His Greatest Mistake
by WuHaoNi
Summary: Voldemort’s ascent to power begins in 1981 instead of 1971. There is no longer a Chosen One. Who will save the Wizarding World? AU. Takes place in 1991. RL/NT 4 friends. 3 couples. 2 chances. 1 bond. Never underestimate the power of love.
1. Madman of Solitude

**Disclaimer: **_Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people or events are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note (Please read first!): **The entire story is based off the premise that Voldemort comes to power in 1981, instead of 1971 like he does in the books. This has a butterfly effect on all of the characters: many are alive who should not have been. But the world in AU 1991 is different than Harry's...it is dark, unpredictable and there is no Chosen One.

Wizards in England want to know: who will defeat Voldemort?

* * *

_The walls start breathing, my mind's unweaving,  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.__  
A weight is lifted on this evening  
I give the final blow._  
--All-American Rejects,_ It Ends Tonight_

_  
_**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 23, 1991_

**Voices. **

No one but him heard the voices.

Low. Smooth. High. Cruel.

_Imperio._

All taking turns with him.

_Crucio._

Pain.

Blood in his mouth: warm, wet and coppery. The smell filled his nostrils and he retched, turning his head to vomit on the cold cement floor of a dilapidated English manor.

Revulsion on the face of the tall blonde man with cold gray eyes.

"Disgusting, isn't it, Macnair? I daresay the Mudblood won't be long in living."

Macnair grunted and aimed a kick at his stomach as he fruitlessly tried to curl in a defensive position. The steel toed boot made solid contact with his solar plexus and stars burst in front of his eyes as the wind was knocked out of him. He wheezed and began coughing in earnest, broken ribs throbbing painfully from the effort.

"It's a shame the Dark Lord wants him alive as an example for that fool, Potter," replied Macnair's companion as he carelessly flipped his helpless victim onto his back, using a foot, as if the man would contaminate him. "Draco will have nothing to practice on."

"I'm sure Bellatrix will find him something."

"Yes, well, she's not inclined to share, is she?" said the man nastily, sneering at Macnair. He flicked his wand lazily. "_Crucio._"

The pain permeated into his bones, frying his nerve endings, stabbing and burning every inch of his body as he screamed hoarsely, his voice having been lost hours ago.

Macnair chuckled cruelly, eyes alighting with obvious excitement. "Let me have a go, Malfoy."

"You've had your fun," Malfoy replied coldly. "And you do not know control. We need him alive. The Dark Lords said to continue the interrogation until he gives us information."

"What makes you think he knows anything? If he hasn't broken before now…"

Malfoy stopped and the man's screams dwindled to ragged sobbing between large gasps of pain. He took his wand and deliberately pointed it at Macnair, raising a pale eyebrow with studious delicacy.

"Are you questioning my orders? The orders that were specifically given to me by the Dark Lord."

Macnair looked at him with apparent impassiveness, but fear shone from the depths of his deep, dark black eyes.

"No," he replied steadily.

"Good. Then you won't mind closing the door behind you when you leave."

Macnair threw Malfoy a glare and stalked out of the room, closing the door hard enough the make the walls shake.

Malfoy's upper lip curled. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. _Crucio._"

This was the longest time yet; white hot pain almost numbing in its intensity. He opened his mouth in a wordless yell, clenching his hands so hard that four crescent cuts split open his palms. It ended after God knew how long, and he lay limply, waiting tensely for Malfoy's next move.

The "interrogation" had been going on for hours; that much he was sure of. Time seemed to pass very slowly here, but it could not have been _days_. If it had been that long, one of his friends would have noticed that he was missing and sent the Aurors after him.

He was so stupid, so careles_s, _and so _weak_.

The Death Eaters had caught him off guard.

He had been flipping through a ring catalog at his house when they captured him. He'd barely had time to look for his wand when Malfoy had Stunned him and dragged him to the manor_._

They had locked him in a tiny stone room with bars on the door: no wand, no means of escape. He had endured a few pitiful moments of wakefulness before Macnair had brought him to the upstairs drawing room.

The torture commenced.

Malfoy wanted to know everything: where the Order would strike next, who were the Order spies but mostly: _Where were James and Lily Potter?_

He had babbled nonsense after his first taste of the Cruciatus Curse: a garbled mix of stock answers that the Order had concocted if a member had been captured and a little, shameful, bit of the truth.

However: one sane fragment stuck in his mind: do not say anything about James or Lily.

As Sirius had once said, "I'd rather die than betray my friends."

And Peter Pettigrew believed that with all of his heart.

Malfoy knelt next to him, a sadistic smirk on his chiseled, flint-like face. "Where's Potter? You cannot possibly _not_ know. Tell me now and I let you go."

"Just like that?" Peter rasped.

"Just like that," nodded Malfoy. "Fail to tell me and—" he waved his wand threateningly—"suffer the consequences."

"Malfoy, I wouldn't tell you for all the Galleons in Gringotts," Peter croaked. He ran his tongue around his bone-dry mouth and spat in a brash manner that was more characteristic of James or Sirius.

_In for a penny, out for a pound._

Malfoy's face contorted in disgust, and he vigorously wiped his check with the sleeve of his expensive black robes.

"Filthy Mudblood," he snarled. He swung his hand back and slapped Peter as hard as he could, the resulting smack resounding around the room.

Unconsciousness was a long time in coming.

* * *

He awoke in a sweat sodden mess, his body horribly contorted and stiff.

Panicked, and unsure of where he was, Peter rolled to his left and dropped like a stone onto the hard parquet of the Potter's living room floor. He sat up, confused, and gazed blearily at the leather sofa in front of him.

Then it hit him.

He was in Lily and James' house.

It wasn't December and he was not in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, praying for rescue.

He was _safe_.

It was a just a nightmare, Peter told himself as he stood shakily to grab a glass of water.

Memories can't hurt you.

The sound of hushed voices and sizzling food grew stronger as he walked toward the kitchen, squinting as the bright light hit his shy pupils.

He blinked.

Lily Potter stood at the stove, her back to him as she made breakfast. She hummed merrily, stirring a large pan of scrambled eggs with her wand. Beside her, pieces of bacon were turning themselves as the teakettle began to whistle.

"Remus, would you be a dear and get that? My hands are full."

Peter glanced toward the kitchen table as Remus Lupin emerged from behind the Daily Prophet, scowling darkly.

"Skeeter's having a field day with these recent disappearances, says we're not doing enough to stop Voldemort. I'd like to see _her_ take on the Death Eaters." Remus left the table, and did a double take upon seeing Peter standing in the doorway. "Well, you're up early. Good morning."

"Morning," replied Peter automatically. He slid into the seat opposite Remus, looking around through glassy eyes.

Lily beamed at him, and handed him a plate. "Good morning, Peter. Fancy some breakfast?"

"Sure. What did you cook?"

"Everything," interjected Remus good-naturedly, and poured himself a cup of tea. "If I didn't know any better I'd say she was cooking for an army."

"I don't see you complaining when you eat _everything_ in sight," said Lily, ribbing him. She sat down in between the two men, strategically placing the plates of toast, eggs and bacon in front of her.

"I'm a growing boy," Remus said with a wolfish grin. "Pass me the butter."

"Get it yourself," she replied, her mouth already full.

Remus sighed. "Peter, could you pass me the butter?"

"Get it yourself," he said, exchanging a wink with Lily.

"That's the spirit," she laughed. "You've got a wand, Remus. Use it."

"_Accio _butter," said Remus in a mock resigned manner and began to slather liberal amounts onto his singed toast. "So, Peter, what are you doing awake? You usually don't get up until nine o'clock."

Peter frowned. "What time is it?"

"Seven," said Lily, rubbing her eyes. "Normally, I wouldn't be awake either, but the Hogwarts letters are mailed today, and Remus and I have got Muggleborn informing duty."

"It's that time of the year again, is it?"

"Yes," said Lily with a fond smile. "And Harry will be getting his sometime today as well. You know how excited he is about that."

"I think all of Godric's Hollow knows how excited he is," said Remus dryly.

Lily punched him lightly. "Don't be cheeky."

"That's a difficult thing to do for Remus," said Peter.

Remus chuckled dryly.

Lily paused, and said soberly, "But really, Peter, are you all right?"

Her green eyes examined Peter with concern. "You look ill."

Peter fiddled with his napkin, and ducked Lily's penetrating gaze. His friend had a nifty way with eliciting information, even when people were unwilling to give it.

He suspected that was part of how Lily had become such a good teacher.

"I just didn't sleep very well that's all," Peter muttered, dropping his eyes to the table. He purposely forked a large bite of scrambled eggs into his mouth, chasing it down with a hot gulp of tea.

Lily and Remus exchanged inscrutable glances and Peter determinedly ignored them.

Remus stretched out and patted his hand in a sympathetic gesture.

Lily smiled, and said softly, "You shouldn't be ashamed, you know."

"Of what?" said Peter defiantly.

She reached out across the table and enveloped him in a hug.

He accepted it wordlessly, finding solace in the tight arms of one of his closest friends.

As she continued to squeeze him tightly, Peter determinedly brushed the last lingering memories away.

Love was the balm for everything.

No matter what the pain.


	2. Tunnel Vision

**Disclaimer:**_ Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people or events are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank the reviewers from last chapter. I love getting reviews! Please do review; it really makes me happy. :) For anyone who's confused on the timeline, feel free to PM or leave the message in a review. And now, without further ado...

* * *

_There's a light at each end of this tunnel,  
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out  
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again  
If you only try turning around.  
_--Breathe (2 AM_)_, _Anna Nalick_

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 23, 1991_

_Same day_

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

The shout came from out of nowhere, and 1st year AIT (Auror-in-Training) Shawn Trattle looked around in confusion, searching for the source of the noise. He inched towards the nearest cover: a flimsy wooden wall that bore the distinctive scorch marks of previous attacks. Trattle dropped like a stone seconds later, falling to his knees without a sound.

His partner, a wary witch named Tristana Moody (niece to Alastor), immediately put up a shield, the blazing blue wall making her an obvious target. Her eyes darted everywhere, missing her attacker's hiding place by a mile.

Sirius Black lifted his Disillusionment Charm and stepped out of the shadows from where he had hidden himself, completely camouflaged. He smirked, remembering how Alastor Moody had pulled the exact same stunt on him when he was training.

_Works every time._

Tristana's blue eyes widened and sent a poorly aimed Impediment Curse whizzing over his head. He didn't even bother to duck.

"Watch your surroundings, Moody," Sirius said casually, as though they were in class, instead of the middle of a virtual battlefield. "Distractions will cost you."

"_Expelliarmus!" _

Sirius blocked the spell with a _Protego _and resumed his lecturing tone. "It's better to use nonverbal spells." He ducked a Burning Hex, deflected a Jelly-Legs Jinx, chuckling a bit. "Catches your enemy off guard and disorientates them."

He flicked his wrist and the hapless AIT crumpled to the ground in the same manner as her colleague. He stepped around her unconscious form with his wand out, ready to greet any more attackers.

The corridor was empty.

Confidently, Sirius strode down the dark hallway, holding his wand out in an offensive position, always watching and waiting. There were two openings cut into the walls near the end, one to the left, and the other to the right.

Sirius detected heavy breathing and quietly muttered, _"Homenum revelio."_

There was a shimmer in the left niche, and he moved quickly. _"Stupefy!"_

A red jet shot from his wand, only to be met midair with a corresponding purple light.

The resulting explosion was massive.

"That's interesting," said Sirius casually, shielding his eyes with the back of his hand. He didn't bother to make another attack; instead, he sheathed his wand. "I've never seen that happen before."

The shimmer dissipated and Frank Longbottom's scarred face emerged, smiling. "First time for everything, I suppose."

He stood up rather unsteadily, his legs cramped from crouching so long. "How'd you know it was me instead of an AIT?"

"No kid out of Hogwarts could have done a sleeping spell like that one," said Sirius with a grin. "Besides, I know your spellwork from a mile away."

He looked around. "Alice here somewhere?"

Frank shook his head. "She chased what's-his-name around the corner about 20 minutes ago."

"Kallegen?"

"That's the one."

Sirius snickered. "I was wondering who screamed."

"Gods," said Frank fervently. "I don't know how these kids are going to last in real combat."

"Give 'em a break, mate. This is only their first month."

"They should have learned all this in their Defense N.E.W.T.S. What's Remus doing?"

Sirius looked insulted. "Don't blame him."

Frank scratched his head with the tip of his wand. "I'm not blaming him. I'm just saying that these AITs don't know _anything_. There's a lot of shoddy spellwork going on. I had one bloke miss me completely."

"You get that every year."

"Think we got them all?"

Sirius shrugged. "What does the chart say?"

Frank pulled out a piece of parchment and tapped it twice.

An accurate map of the maze appeared, spiraling out in black ink, written in Frank's distinctive blocky handwriting. The chart was James and Sirius' brainchild, an exciting continuation of their work on the Marauder's Map during their Hogwarts years.

It kept track of the AIT's progress during practical lessons, as well as the location of both instructor and inscructee. All of the 6 full Auror Instructors were listed as active, meaning that they had not either gotten hit—or at least not seriously enough to list them as unconscious, or "inactive".

Of the twenty-five AITs who had gone into the maze, twenty-one were inactive.

Four were not.

Nymphadora Tonks. Philip Nasser. Ormond Sylvain. Tori Flann.

Sirius grinned wickedly. "Let's go hunt some AITs."

* * *

"I think—"

"Is this the part where you tell me we should stop and ask for directions?" asked Philip Nasser sarcastically.

The violet eyes of Nymphadora Tonks gleamed with a hint of a smile.

"Well…"

"Oh, god, I knew it," her partner moaned almost immediately. He groaned fatalistically, sounding more like a Muggle soap opera actor than the pureblood he really was. "We're lost."

"It's not my fault you're failing Land Nav," said Tonks, almost mischievously.

He squinted at her with accusing brown eyes.

"It's so easy to get lost in this fucking place," Nasser whined.

Her mouth tightened. Tonks had enough.

She hated whiners.

"That's why they call it a maze, Nasser," she said witheringly. "We're not lost. I know exactly where we're going."

"Why didn't you say so?" he demanded, striding in front of her, temper tantrum forgotten. "Get behind me."

"What?"

"I said get behind me, Tonks."

They had only been working together for a few weeks, and already, Nasser was starting to get on her nerves. He was an asshole—that much was clear. But the thing that bothered her most about him was that he was a chauvinistic idiot, who didn't think that a witch could curse anything, let alone be an Auror.

Tonks had spent her whole life working against prejudices: from the insane fanatics that her mother called family to the snobbish purebloods who had made it very clear that this was _their_ world, and she just happened to be living in it.

Tonks had kept her mouth shut when Nasser had made a snide comment about her hair.

She had said nothing when he had steered them wrong way.

But she was not about to let _this_ go.

She didn't need anyone to "protect" her.

Tonks glared at Nasser angrily.

"Why? So you can _defend _me? Not in this lifetime, mate. I'm the one who saved you from that Severing Jinx. If anything, you should be getting behind me."

"No." Nasser met her gaze; just as stubborn as she was.

"Fine. Suit yourself." Tonks swept past him. "We'll go together."

He eyed her suspiciously, but grudgingly allowed her to fall into step beside him.

A second later, she was flat on her face, having tripped over her own feet.

"For Merlin's sake—" Nasser groaned.

But Tonks did not get to hear the rest of his sentence.

Blue fire streaked through the air, and he collapsed against the wall, unconscious.

A dark figure sauntered languidly down the hallway, acting as though he was on a picnic.

There was only one instructor who walked like that.

Sirius.

Still on the ground, she held her breath and took aim for his eyes, keeping her wand steadily.

"_Conjunctivito!"_

The curse hit straight on.

"Incarcerous!"

Tonks had not anticipated a second opponent; and her attempt to roll out of the way was futile. Frank's quick response was effectively crippling. She could only groan—a hard thing to do when one is gagged—and wait for the instructors to come and rescue her.

They took their time.

Frank fixed Sirius' eyes with a wave of his wand, and they lazily ambled toward Tonks' prone figure.

"I should've known that you'd be the last one standing," said Sirius almost proudly. He paused, looking down thoughtfully. "On second thought, maybe 'standing' isn't the best choice of words."

He knelt down in front of her, his gray eyes still red and inflamed.

Sirius grinned impudently. "Need a hand?"

She grimaced and pushed off the ground.

"No, thank you."

Tonks held herself stiffly, her once pristine black robes white with dirt. "Am I really the last one?"

"Well…we still haven't found Kallegen." A smirk played over Sirius' lips. "Conceivably, he could be conscious somewhere in the maze."

"But highly unlikely," added Frank.

He conjured a floating stretcher for Nasser, and they began to walk in the direction of the entrance.

"Will he be okay?" Tonks asked, surprised at their nonchalance.

"Oh, yeah." Sirius waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, Nymphadora."

Tonks gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to hex him into the next century.

He was really asking for it.

"Tonks. My name is Tonks."

"Sure it is…Nymphadora."

* * *

Colchester was oppressively hot.

Remus could feel the sweat trickling down his back, staining the crisp blue dress shirt as it rolled across his shoulder blades and spine. The color, previously respectable and appropriately formal, was undone with one sweep of his hand. The absence of tension was relieving, and the choked, stifled feeling ebbed away as his pale, shiny skin became exposed to the cool, fresh heat.

Lily, cool in a cream-colored summer dress, walked sedately next to him, seemingly unaffected by the heat. Her thick, long, red hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and it swung from sided to side as they walked down the sidewalk in the humid July heat.

If he hadn't known any better, Remus would've pegged her age as 20, instead of 31.

Her freckles had multiplied in the summer sun, making up for all the time that she spent cooped up in the depths of Hogwarts. As if aware of his scrutiny, Lily ducked her head to the side, and the ponytail draped to the side, partially obscuring her face.

"I think we've only got the Granger's left to go," Lily said cheerfully, crossing the previous name off with a flourish. She brought her head up and pointed to the modest white Victorian to their left.

"That's it, right there."

Remus nodded in approval and he swung open the white picket fence with ease. A green garden hose writhed on the driveway in front of him, and he quickly leapt over it to avoid getting wet.

Lily was not so fortunate.

She got sprayed full on in the face, before running the rest of the driveway to the dry porch where Remus waited.

He grinned. "You look a little wet."

"Bite me, Remus."

Normally, such a trivial thing would not be a problem. She would've whipped out her wand and fixed the matter with a simple Drying Charm. However, the secrecy issue made this impossible and so, Lily would have to suffer.

The front door opened and a tall woman with short curly brown hair answered the door.

She smiled placidly for a second, but this was quickly replaced by a look of guilt and embarrassment.

"Oh, dear. I'm terrible sorry that you got wet."

"Don't worry about it," Lily said, smiling easily.

"My daughter must have left it on. Anne Granger."

"Professors Lily Potter and Remus Lupin."

"Well, it's a pleasure, professors." She beamed at them.

They followed her into the living room, where she offered them refreshments. Both politely declined.

"Give me a minute, please. Hermione, darling, come down here," Anne called.

The girl thundered down the stairs, prompting a chiding, "Don't run in the house, sweetheart."

She stepped into the foyer, and the two professors got their first glance of Hermione Granger.

Without her mother's prompting she stuck out her hand to Remus and Lily in a particularly precocious manner, no doubt mimicking her parent's actions in similar situations.

"Hello, my name is Hermione."

"Good afternoon. I'm Professor Potter, this is Professor Lupin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Hermione solemnly.

"Be a dear and turn off the hose, will you?" Anne said, before she turned to Remus and Lily. "Now, which school did you say you were from?"

"Hogwarts."

Anne frowned. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts. I don't believe I've heard of that one."

She stood and began to fuss around the living room, rifling through papers noisily.

"Hermione has gotten so many invitations that it's hard to keep track," said Anne with pride in her voice. "Oh, here we are."

She snatched up the torn envelope and laughed a little. "Now I remember. Hogwarts. That magic school. My husband and I thought it was a bit of a joke."

Anne looked at them with an expectant eye, hoping for him to concur that it was indeed a joke.

"Well, no, Mrs. Granger," said Remus apologetically. "Hogwarts is a real school of witchcraft and wizardry. Your daughter is a witch and we are professors there."

She looked a little dazed.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" asked Lily, concerned.

Mrs. Granger laughed. "I'm perfectly fine, professor. I don't believe you for one minute, though. Magic, indeed. How ridiculous."

"Might I suggest that Hermione be here to hear this?" suggested Lily tentatively.

Mrs. Granger sniffed. "I don't expose my daughter to raving lunatics. Thank you kindly for your…information, but Hermione will not be attending this Hogwarts."

Lily exchanged a dubious glance with Remus.

That was not a good sign.

Remus decided to make one last ditch effort.

"Has Hermione done something that you can't explain?"

"Perhaps things that are…metaphysically impossible?" added Lily, recalling the words that McGonagall had used to try to relate to her own Muggle parents.

"Well, she has always been different than children her own age. She doesn't relate very well, I'm afraid. They don't seem to understand one another. They call her a _freak_."

"What did she do?" asked Remus gently.

For the first time, Anne Granger looked slightly unnerved.

"Well," she started, plucking at the bottom of her shirt. "There are little things. Strange things—"

The slamming of a car door cut her off and she shut her mouth quickly, seeming glad of the distraction.

"Dad!" Hermione exclaimed joyfully, her thin high voice easily penetrating the walls.

Mr. Granger rumbled back and Anne stood to open the door, admitting her husband and daughter, who was excitedly chattering about her day.

Mr. Granger raised a blonde eyebrow at the sight of Remus and Lily sitting on the couch.

"I didn't know we were expecting company." He held out his hand, which both visitors shook. "Howard Granger."

"Remus Lupin."

"Lily Potter."

"They're professors at Hogwarts," said Anne lowly. She quickly glanced at Hermione, who had begun to read quietly in the corner, oblivious. "You know—that magic school."

Howard chuckled. "Coming to teach us how to fly a broomstick, are you? Excellent joke, my dear. Really, what school do you represent? Riverwell?"

"Hogwarts, sir," said Remus, watching Hermione's head lift up a little. "I realize that you believe that this is all an elaborately contrived prank, but it's not. Your daughter is a witch and we would like her to attend our school."

Hermione completely abandoned the pretense of reading.

Howard's good temper vanished. "Really, now, sir, the joke's gone on long enough. You don't really expect us to believe magic's real?"

Remus smiled slightly. "Not without a demonstration."

He pulled out his wand, and the adults drew back in instinctive fear. "Don't worry, I just want to show you a spell, to show you that magic's real."

And he proceeded to conjure an armchair out of thin air.

Hermione's eyes widened, and she gazed up at him in wordless wonder.

"I want to learn how to do _that_."


	3. Yin and Yang

**Disclaimer:**_ Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people or events are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note: **Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, and for having so much patience while I finally got this story out!

* * *

_What was it about that night  
Connection- In an isolating age  
For once the shadows gave way to light__For once I didn't disengage  
--_Rent_, __What You Own_

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 23, 1991_

_Same day_

It was past noon by the time Lily and Remus arrived back at Godric's Hollow.

They had spent over an hour at the Granger household, patiently answering every question that an eager Hermione threw at them.

"She's going to be a Ravenclaw," said Lily confidently, waving her wand in the counter clockwise circle required for the unlocking charm she had put on their house.

"I don't think you should prophesize where our future students will be. Just because she's intelligent—"

"Oh, come on Remus, don't get all politically correct on me," Lily said with a roll of her eyes. She pushed the door open. "Besides, I got Penelope Clearwater right, didn't I? And besides, she's obviously got a great mind—"

"Yes, but—" Remus began, as they made their way down the carpeted front hallway.

"—and it's probably a dominant part of her personality—"

"—but she could also be loyal, or cunning or brave," he finished reasonably. "All I'm saying is that one trait is not a deciding factor. Just look at Regulus. He was in Slytherin, but he's got big bollocks to do what he does on a daily basis…even if he _can_ be an irritating little twit."

"I guess this why we teachers don't sort students," said Lily with a sigh, demurely arranging her skirt as she sat on the couch. "We can't see the bigger picture."

Remus nodded solemnly and took a seat opposite to her. "I suppose that's why the founders appointed an omnipotent talking hat to do that job for us."

Lily snorted.

"You know, a lot of Gryffindors are intelligent too. I mean, just look at where James and Sirius got sorted. 'Brightest Students of Their Generation'." He mimicked McGonagall's Scottish brogue perfectly. "I don't think it ever occurred to her that it would insult the rest of us."

"Well, you know how Minerva is. She only said it to motivate them to do work."

Remus scoffed. "Like that ever worked. You know, it's probably good that they didn't get sorted into Ravenclaw—even if they _were_ smart enough. They definitely didn't have the studying habits required to be one."

"I seem to remember a certain male prefect spending 6 hours a night studying before O.W.L.S," Lily said teasingly.

"And you were right there alongside me," Remus recalled. "Meanwhile, James, Sirius and Peter played Exploding Snap and mocked us."

Lily laughed a little. "I almost killed them."

They lapsed into the comfortable silence of shared memories, Lily twirling a long strand of scarlet hair, smiling gently. Remus stared pensively up at the ceiling.

A thought struck him.

"Where's Harry?"

Lily gazed at him with unabashed amusement, as if to say, _you're asking now? _ "He's over at the Longbottoms. He stayed over last night, remember?"

"I forgot," Remus replied sheepishly. "So who's watching the kids if Frank and Alice are in that training session with Sirius?

"Jarli is."

"Who?"

"Their house elf. But, they should be coming home right around now," said Lily, checking her watch. "And they are set to come over at two for a late lunch which means we have a few hours of peace and quiet."

"Until Sirius drops by."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I can never understand why he insists on eating all of his meals here."

"Maybe he likes your cooking," suggested Remus with a smirk.

"Right," said Lily with a snort. "Or maybe he's just too lazy to cook for himself."

"I can't cook worth a damn, Lily, you know that," said Sirius.

Startled, they both turned to see him leaning casually against the doorjamb. One hand lightly griped his wand.

"Death Eater?" said Lily lowly.

Remus shook his head. "I doubt it. They usually curse first and ask questions later. But just to be sure…"

He strode over to Sirius and pointed his wand directly at the other man's heart.

"How did you get in here?" Remus demanded.

"Used the Floo in the kitchen," said Sirius calmly, looking undeterred that his best friend was inches away from hexing him.

Lily regarded Sirius from the couch.

"What did you do to me in fifth year just before final exams?" she said evenly.

"Locked you in a broom closet and tried to kiss you. What did I say about McGonagall the only time we had detention together?"

"That you had caught her and Filch snogging in the trophy room."

"What happened after I asked out Moira Beagan?" said Remus.

"She slapped you in the face in front of the entire Gryffindor common room," Sirius said, smirking. "And then her boyfriend Ian Wood hit you again, for good measure."

Remus nodded wearily. "It's him. Only Sirius could recount that incident with this much glee. After sixteen years, might I add."

"It was _funny_."

"I was completely humiliated!"

"My point exactly."

Sirius took a seat in the rocking chair by the fireplace and began moving vigorously.

Lily made a face. "Don't break it."

"This thing has withstood centuries of Potters' arses, and you think _I'm_ going to break it?"

"Your brother was responsible for that chip on the side."

"My brother's a pansy," Sirius replied without missing a beat.

Then, suspiciously, "When did you have him over your house?"

"We had an Order potluck dinner," deadpanned Remus.

"Without me?" said Sirius, mock outraged.

The chair squeaked in protest.

"Yes, yes, very sad," Lily cut in briskly, eyeing the chair with a severe glance. "Lunch isn't until two. You'll need to find someplace else to eat."

"Am I not invited to this lunch?" Sirius looked from Remus to Lily with wounded gray eyes.

"I assume that you want to eat right away."

"I can wait. Longbottoms are coming, right?"

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" said Remus, his tone mildly accusatory.

"No. Prongs told me. And I didn't _need_ to eavesdrop. You two talk very loudly when you think you're alone."

"How much did you hear?"

"That bit about McGonagall's quote and so on. I had no idea she liked me that much when I was in school. I always thought I was a bit of a pest."

"She still thinks you're a pest," Lily offered none too quietly.

"What was that?" Sirius cocked his head.

"Would you like to play chess?" she answered back smartly.

"Not particularly, no. My head hurts."

"Thinking does that," said Remus, clucking sympathetically.

"I got hit in the head by a damn paperweight," Sirius rejoined tersely. "Those bloody AITs are so jumpy around me."

Remus snickered.

"I'm glad to see that you find my pain amusing, Moony."

"I never thought I'd be saying this to you, of all people, but seriously, Padfoot, lighten up."

"Siriusly—"

"Don't start," said Remus warningly.

Sirius wilted visibly under Remus' quiet rebuke.

Lily smiled mischievously. "You know, maybe if you quit yelling 'constant vigilance' all time..."

"Who told you that?" Sirius demanded.

"James," said Lily simply.

"Incidentally, where _is_ he?"

* * *

A foul odor wafted through the maze of cubicles in the Auror Department.

James Potter's normally pristine robes were covered in bits of scarlet eggshell, which gave a stench strongly reminiscent of sulfur and rotting fish.

He stalked quickly down the rows, heads turning as a black blur sped by them.

"Who let off Dungbomb in here?" someone asked loudly.

James ducked his head, shielding his face from curious co-workers until he reached the blessed privacy of his desk.

A pink head popped up and propped its chin on the top of the cubicle.

"Wotcher, James…ugh, sweet Merlin, what's that smell?"

Tonks' heart shaped face crumpled in disgust, hair quickly changing to a sickly olive green.

"You stink," Tonks informed him matter-of-factly, holding her nose as if to prove her point.

"I know," James replied testily.

"I thought you were supposed to confiscate a chimera egg, not bathe in Stinksap."

"It blew up," he said, rooting through his desk drawers for spare robes. He pulled out a powder blue pair and made a disgruntled face.

Lily could have such terrible taste in clothing sometimes.

"I'm going to change. Turn around."

"Embarrassed?" Tonks asked cheekily.

"Tonks."

"You know, you're kind of cute for an older guy." She looked him up and down, smiling rather seductively.

"Tonks," said James crisply, suppressing a growl of frustration with difficulty.

"All right, all right. Don't have a hippogriff." She turned her back, chattering merrily all the way.

"The practice battle went very well. I'm so glad that you and Sirius are my mentors. I used that new curse and Nasser didn't know it. And he had the nerve to…"

James tuned her out as he went through the impossibly insurmountable task of changing clothes in a tiny cubicle with prying female eyes across the way. He had just finished butting the top button when his younger partner, Williamson, ran a similar walk of shame to his own desk.

Murmurs of displeasure followed him.

"For Christ's sake, that's what Cleaning Charms are for!"

"What the hell, Williamson?!"

"What's going on here?" barked Alastor Moody, emerging from his office with the swiftness of a charging bull. "You lot don't have anything better to do than run your mouths?"

He began pushing people's heads back into their paperwork as he made his way to where James stood at the back of the room.

Tonks' head quickly disappeared from view, and loud rustling noises came from the other side as she pretended to act as though she was busy.

"Were you successful?" Moody asked straight away, not even sparing the time for a 'hello'.

James winced a little. "I suppose that depends on your definition of successful."

"Don't play games with me, Potter. Did you recover the egg or not?"

"We recovered the egg. But there was a little problem," James reluctantly admitted with a sigh. "Williamson blew up the egg. He's got to be one of the most wand-happy blokes I've ever worked with."

"I don't want excuses." Moody's bright blue eyes drilled into James' hazel ones and the latter looked away, ashamed. "You're the Field Auror in Charge; you're supposed to be watching for these sort of rookie mistakes. That's why I sent _you_ and not Toinks over there."

"Right," he muttered over Tonks' disgruntled snort. "It won't happen again, sir."

Moody gruffly jerked his head in response, adding over his shoulder, "And don't think I don't see you rolling your eyes, Miss Tinks."

"How did you know?" she exclaimed, temporarily disregarding his mishap with her name. "It's like you have eyes in the back of your head!"

Moody ignored her. "Black is over by Shacklebolt's desk. He wants to talk to you."

"What's he doing there?" James furrowed his brow in confusion.

But Moody had already turned away, and was now soundly berating Williamson for his part in the Incident.

"Sure glad that's not me," Tonks murmured.

"Me, too," James replied absently, his mind far away.

He knew for a fact that all of the trainers had gone home already, and Sirius should've been with them.

Unless he was working overtime…which was highly uncharacteristic of him. And what exactly was Sirius doing with Kingsley?

James was still musing this as he made the trek halfway across the room.

Sirius' back was toward him as he leaned over Kingsley's desk, writing something on a piece of parchment, and an involuntary grin split James' face.

"What are you still doing here, Padfoot?" He clapped Sirius on the back.

Sirius stiffened, jumped, and knocked a nearby inkbottle over with his elbow. A large puddle spread over the parchment, and began to drip onto the floor. He turned immediately, fuming with anger.

James leapt back in surprise, the grin quickly fading.

Regulus Black's chiseled aristocratic features displayed annoyance. His fine, thin mouth turned downward in an expression of unhappiness.

"Look at that, Potter," he said crossly, gesturing to the mess. Regulus scowled and began to vanish the ink. "You fucked up my report."

_Great, _James thought with a wince. _Just my luck._

He pinched the bridge of his nose, starting to feel a headache coming on. Definitely _not_ in the mood to deal with their complicated relationship.

For Regulus was more than his best friend's younger brother. He was the Order's only spy within the ranks of Voldemort's Death Eaters. Undercover for ten years now, Regulus had passed valuable information that had since saved countless lives.

The reason he had for being a spy had been kept private, but James had heard that it had something to do with a house elf.

_Weird._

Anyway, it was of utmost importance to keep up appearances in public. For safety's sake, James and Regulus pretended to hate each other. Regulus performing the part of a snotty, pureblood, Death Eater Extraordinaire, James acting as a self-righteous Auror and Dumbledore's man.

In private, though, Regulus had proved to be unexpectedly good company—even though he _was_ a tad too acerbic at times.

Which was why James dreaded the inevitable confrontation.

They squared off, Regulus sneering, his features a smooth mask of contempt.

He was enjoying this too much.

"Black," James began shortly. "You are the Magical Creatures Consultant to the DMLE. What are you doing in the Auror's division?"

"My superior wanted me to receive the chimera egg after _you _acquired it." He put a special little emphasis on the 'you', accompanying his words with a nasty smirk.

Regulus was _definitely_ enjoying this.

And James was totally screwed.

He let the silence accumulate a little, trying to think of the right way to phrase it. James had a feeling that "Here's the thing, Regulus, it's in a million pieces" wouldn't go over too well.

Regulus straightened, and looked at him snidely through rectangular glasses.

"You _do_ have the egg right, Potter?"

"Well—"

"For fuck's sake, Potter, _please _tell me that it's not in the hands of that Albanian twat."

"Williamson destroyed it," James snapped finally. "It's gone. Obliterated. _Evanesco_."

Surprisingly, Regulus slumped in relief.

"Well, thank Merlin for that."

"That's all you have for me?" James threw up his hands in abject exasperation. "'Thank Merlin?' No 'oh thank you, James, for putting your neck on the line to get some bloody egg that makes you smell like a thestral corpse."

"I think they smell like a demiguise, actually," said Regulus loftily.

"Bully for you," replied James sourly, glancing at his watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave. Prior commitment, and all that."

"Now just a minute, Potter. I need—"

"It's two thirty. I'm going home. Talk to Kingsley."

"But, your report—"

"It'll be ready when I get back," James called over his shoulder as he scurried from the room, horrendously late for lunch.

Lily was going to _murder_ him.

* * *

The clink of silverware echoed from the dining room as he stepped from the fireplace, brushing soot off his robes, watching dispassionately as it fluttered to the kitchen floor.

Lily glided gracefully through the doorway, burdened by stacks of dirty bowls in each hand.

Her eyes lit up as she noticed his presence, but she prudently refrained from running into his arms.

Carefully, she set down the dishes into the sink, and drew her wand.

"What's your favorite part of me you like to kiss?" Lily asked calmly.

"Can I demonstrate?"

Her lips twitched. "No."

"We-e-el," he said carefully, elongating the word to stretch out several syllables. He took a couple of steps closer. "I like to start at your ears and work my way down your neck. Then I like to throw you on top of the bed and ravish your—"

"_James._" Lily's cheeks flushed a healthy pink. "There are children next door."

"So?" James pulled her into a hug, and kissed her soundly, melting her into a pile of Lily-goo. "They didn't hear anything. Want me to continue?"

"Later," Lily said with a coy smile. "When we're in bed, and we have the _entire_ night to ourselves. Then I'll tell you where _I _like to kiss you."

She leaned a little closer and said in a breathy whisper, "I'll give you a hint: it's smooth, tasty and _very_ ticklish."

"Hypocrite," James said, swallowing hard. "Tease."

Lily looked satisfied with herself. "I've been an awfully _naughty_ girl, haven't I?"

"Mm-hmm," he replied, in a rather high-pitched voice, not trusting himself to say anything more.

"Will you give me the punishment I need tonight?"

"Oh, yes."

"Great!" She slipped neatly out of his arms and picked up a platter of sandwiches that were lying on the nearby counter. "We'd better get in there; they'll be wondering what kept us."

James groaned a little.

He supposed this was Lily's way of punishing him for being late.

Regulus was in for an unpleasant surprise come next Order meeting. He permitted himself a brief moment's fantasy as he made the trip to the dining room—bald Regulus, anyone? But he couldn't be that childish, could he?

_Smooth…naughty…punishment…_

The words swam through his mind as he absentmindedly took a seat next to Sirius, acknowledging the 'hellos' with a vague wave, still contemplating Regulus' revenge.

Which had a nice ring to it.

He reached for a sandwich, focusing all of his attention on the beautiful woman across the table. Lily's soft lips were so tantalizingly out of reach.

James let his mouth fall open as she closed _her _mouth around the lips of a butterbeer bottle.

Okay, maybe he _could_ be a tiny bit childish.

"Hey, James, fall off any brooms lately?"

Alice's teasing voice pulled himself out of his reverie and he reluctantly returned to the conversation, which had apparently been devoted to telling embarrassing stories about him.

Frank laughed appreciatively.

"I take it that Sirius told you that story," said James in a resigned voice, fixing Sirius with an _I'm-going-to-kill-you-after-they-leave_ look.

"Yes, he did," she conceded. "After all, it's not every day that an eleven year old knocks a grown wizard off a broom in a game of pickup Quidditch."

"Yes, well, he'll make an impressive Beater someday," said James, flashing Neville a smile. "Takes after his father."

"Yes, and Kathleen takes after me," said Alice somewhat ruefully. "Can't stay on a broomstick even if someone paid me to."

Kathleen, Neville's younger sister, beamed proudly at this statement.

"You could've played professionally, right, Frank?" said Remus.

"If I hadn't been so set on being an Auror, yes," the other man acknowledged with a nod.

"On getting yourself killed is more like it," Alice rejoined spiritedly.

"There have been several close calls in the past," admitted Frank. "Ones I'd rather not talk about."

Harry and Neville made various sounds of disappointment.

Neville groaned. "Aw, Dad._ Please?_"

"No," said Frank firmly. "Not in front of your sister. Maybe later, though, all right?"

He nodded enthusiastically as his father reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Did I tell you what happened yesterday?" said Alice, turning to her friend.

Lily shook her head. "No."

"Well, Harry and Neville were playing Quidditch inside the house—"

"They were, were they?" She fixed a beady eye on her son, who squirmed uncomfortably.

"—and one of Augusta's vases broke."

"Oh really? Harry didn't say anything."

Harry gulped.

James silently sympathized with him. That predatory gleam in his wife's eye was never good.

"Now let me tell you, that thing was atrocious," said Alice, warming up to her story, apparently oblivious to what had just taken place. "I would've broken it myself, but she _meant_ well and she's getting old—"

Frank scoffed disbelievingly. "We're talking about my mother, right?"

Alice reached across where Kathleen was sitting and lightly smacked him on the shoulder.

"I really do think she meant well, Frank, now let me finish telling the story. Well, Augusta likes to come by for visits every now and then—"

"Mostly to criticize how Alice has failed as a parent," muttered Frank. "And sometimes to go on about how she's not good enough for me, how I should find another witch, yadda, yadda."

"Do you know the meaning of quiet?" said Alice, exasperated. "That's the last interruption, for Merlin sake. _Anyway_…hmm, I forgot what I was going to say. Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome," replied Frank, dodging her second slap.

"I don't understand," said Lily, confused. "You two have been married for years. Why would she think that you would want to be with someone else?"

"Ah, the working of my mother's mind is difficult to fathom," said Frank jocularly. He shrugged, not sounding particularly bothered. "I tend to ignore whatever comes out of her mouth, especially when it comes to the subject of Alice or the raising of my children. Don't get me wrong, I love her, but sometimes she's a bit too much."

"At least she's not _my_ mum," Sirius pointed out.

"Amen," said James solemnly.

The Longbottoms were confused as the Marauders and Lily started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Neville perplexedly.

"I think they're all mental," said Harry in a stage whisper.

"Takes one to know one, Pronglet," said Sirius affectionately.

Harry made a face. "I hate it when you call me that."

"Which would be why he keeps calling you that," said Remus.

"It's embarrassing," said Harry, glancing covertly at Neville, presumably to make sure his friend hadn't heard.

"Would you rather Mini-Prongs?" said Remus. "That one was your dad's idea."

"Harry's nice too," said Harry with no small amount of sarcasm.

"Most parents have embarrassing nicknames for their children."

"Did you?"

Remus smiled faintly. "No. It turns out that there's not a lot you can do with Remus."

"How about Remy?" Sirius joined the conversation with a wicked smile. "Your mum ever call you _that_?"

"No."

"What about 'mus'? Or Re? Or Remikins?"

"Now you're just embarrassing yourself."

Sirius childishly stuck his tongue at Remus, delighting Kathleen, who clapped her hands gleefully.

"Real mature, Sirius," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

Sirius looked immensely pleased with himself, and turned to his godson with the same cheerful countenance.

"Did you get your Hogwarts letter yet?"

Harry shook his head glumly. "No, even though Mum _swore_ I was going to get it today."

Lily held up her hands in defense. "It was a guess, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get your hopes up. But you'll definitely get it before your birthday."

"You haven't got yours yet, right?" Harry turned to Neville.

"No," said the other boy, looking similarly dejected.

"You do know why the post's been delayed, right?" said Frank conversationally.

"I haven't the foggiest," said James honestly. "Enlighten us."

"Er…" The older man looked at the children, suddenly hesitant.

"Well, Frank?" James asked expectantly.

Frank gave the adults a meaningful look, which Lily quickly caught onto.

"Hey, kids, why don't you go play?"

Harry heaved a long-suffering sigh. He had been kicked out of the room enough times to know what his mother was up to.

"You're talking about something you don't want us to hear," said Harry flatly.

"'Fraid so, darling, but you know what?" She beckoned him closer. "We're depending on you and Neville to watch out for Kathy, all right? So make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

Harry nodded; proud she had given him an important task. "All right, let's go! We can play some Exploding Snap."

And he raced out of the room, Neville and Kathleen hot on his heels.

"Smart," Alice said knowingly. "I use that tactic on Neville all the time."

"Tactic makes it sound like I'm scheming against him," Lily protested.

"Don't all mothers do that?" said Frank jokingly.

"I know mine did," muttered Sirius.

"Oi, Padfoot, enough about your mum, already," said James exasperatedly.

"But you've met her," he protested. "You know what a foul, evil bitch she is."

"You must really hate your mother," observed Alice, with traces of amusement.

Sirius didn't smile. "You have no idea."

Remus cleared his throat significantly. "Can we get back on track, please?"

"Oh, right, the post," remembered Frank. "Well, Death Eaters burned down a London owlery this morning. Owners were tortured and killed. Needless to say, it'll take a few days for the system to start back up again."

"Why would Death Eaters attack an owlery?" said James.

"Do they even need a reason anymore?" said Remus sarcastically.

"Maybe they were bored," Sirius put in blandly. "Or _insane_. I saw a seven year old tortured to death by the Cruciatus Curse in front of my eyes. Does that seem like something a rational witch would do?"

Frank cleared his throat. "I, er, think the owners were Muggleborn."

"Of course," said Lily disgustedly. "Were there any survivors?"

"Yeah, I think one or two people managed to escape."

"Why didn't we hear about this at work?" asked Alice.

"We were in that training session, dear. I only heard about it because Kingsley told me. Did you hear abut this, James?"

James shook his head. "No, I was gone all morning, dealing with the illegal trading of a chimera egg."

"How'd that go?"

"Not well," said James darkly. "Williamson blew it up."

"How did Moody take it?" said Alice curiously.

"Oh, you know him. Ranted and raved a bit. Let me off with a warning. I swear, he's gotten more nutty ever since Dolohov took a bit out of his nose."

"He's lucky it wasn't his eye," said Remus dryly.

"Ah, Moody's always been off his rocker," said Sirius fondly. "Best mentor a bloke could ask for, though."

"Sure—if you like being frightened half to death every time he yells 'constant vigilance,'" said Alice, rolling her eyes. "Really, Sirius, you need to stop doing that. You're taking years off the AITs."

"Why is it that everyone finds time to mention that to me today?" Sirius muttered gloomily.

"Well, you _are_ asking for it," said Alice matter-of-factly. "You're not Moody, Sirius."

James winced. _Mistake._

Alice Longbottom was a kind woman, a powerful witch and a talented Auror, but she had the bluntness of a large mallet. The word 'tact' did not seem to be in her vocabulary, something that got her in trouble again and again.

And since Sirius was involved, sparks were certain to fly. His friend had an unfortunate tendency to put his foot in his mouth and a very quick temper. He also hated being corrected. Alice telling him point blank that he was wrong was not conducive to good conversation.

James waited for the inevitable argument.

They didn't disappoint.

Sirius gave her a sour look and replied crisply, "I _know _that, Alice. And as long as we're listing faults, _you're_ not Dumbledore."

Oh boy. _Of course_ he had to touch on that.

Alice had recently taken over the running of Order meetings—James joking called her 'The General' behind her back. She certainly ran them like a general would: all ordered, neat and precise, instead of Dumbledore's helter-skelter 'let's let everybody talk at once' version.

Sirius did not approve of the changes, and was not afraid to make his displeasure known. After one rude comment too many, Alice had simply refused to call on him. And Sirius kept talking out of turn on purpose, just to annoy her.

It was a wonder they got anything done.

But for all their bickering, Alice and Sirius were close, and genuinely liked each other. Which made their occasional arguments painful—they knew how to strike where it hurt.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Alice asked hotly.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you don't know," said Sirius.

"Enlighten me."

"Children, please, can we settle down?" said Lily, half-teasingly, half-despairingly.

"Yes, can we not do this at the diner table," said Remus with a sigh. "Sirius, Alice, you'll have plenty of time to snipe at each other some other time." He blinked. "Merlin, I feel like I'm talking to a couple of 3rd years."

"That's because you _are_," said James wryly. He motioned to both offenders, and his faced twisted into a grin as he cooed, "Let's shake hands you two."

Sirius mock grimaced and whined, "But she has _cooties_."

Alice lazily raised her middle finger.

"Bugger off, Black," she said, but she was smiling.

It was at this moment that Harry and Neville exploded into the room in a flurry of robes and noisy complaints. A short figure with squat little legs followed them closely, struggling to keep up.

"Have you two been eavesdropping all this time?" Lily asked, somewhat amusedly.

"No, we just heard the part about the—oomph," Neville winced. "Ow, Harry."

"You weren't supposed to tell them," Harry whispered.

"How much did you hear?" asked Frank sternly, looking at Neville. "And why did you hang around when you were clearly told to go play?"

"Well, we we're going to play exploding snap, and then Harry thought maybe we could go flying, so we came back and we were going to come in, but you seemed like you didn't want to be bothered so we stayed outside the door and we were going to wait until you came out but you didn't and we got impatient so we came in," Neville said quickly.

Kathleen tugged at Frank's sleeve. "Daddy?"

"Yes, princess?" he responded distractedly, still musing over Neville's story.

"What's the Crucytuss curse?"

All the good humor drained out of the room like a sieve.

"Goddamnit, Sirius," Alice swore fervently. "Look what you did."

The table went silent.

Something broke in Sirius' face and he pushed back from the table, knocking over his chair in the process.

"I need air," he announced stiffly, and went running from the room.


	4. Status Quo

**Disclaimer:**_ Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people or events are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note: **Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. I appreciate it so much! Internet baklava for those who review this chapter.

* * *

_Have you asked of yourselves  
What's the price you might pay?  
Is it simply a game for rich young boys to play?  
__The color of the world is changing day by day  
--_Les Miserables_, __Red and Black_

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 23, 1991_

_Same Day_

There was a long, shocked silence, and the adults stared mutely at each other.

James softly drummed his fingers on the table, waiting for _somebody_ to say _something_.

Alice bit her lip, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She squeezed her eyes shut, as Frank rubbed her arm and muttered soothing words in her ear.

Kathleen fidgeted and shifted from foot to foot, unable to stand still, as befitted a seven year old.

"What happened to Mr. Black?" she asked imperiously, looking at the adults with impatience. "And why won't anybody tell me what the Crucy-thing is?"

"It's called the Cruciatus Curse," said Remus gently. He beckoned Kathleen over. "And bad wizards use it to hurt people."

"Remus, what do you think you're doing with my daughter?" said Frank tightly. He stopped with his ministrations to Alice.

Neville and Harry immediately ceased their whispered conversation and turned to listen.

"She needs to know," said Remus softly, looking Frank square in the eye.

"If anybody was going to tell her, it'd be me or Alice. And she doesn't need to know that yet; she's too young."

"Nothing ever good came from lying to someone, Frank," said Lily sincerely. "Remus was only trying to help."

"You shouldn't have told her," Frank insisted stubbornly.

"I apologize," Remus said contritely.

Frank thought about it a moment, then eventually jerked his head in a nod. "It's all right."

Alice brushed her feathery brown fringe out of her eyes and took a quick, transparent look at the wall clock opposite her.

"Well, we should go. It's rather late," she said, overly cheery. "We've intruded on your hospitality long enough."

She stood up. "Come on, Neville, Kathy, let's Floo back home."

Neville hung his head dispiritedly, and solemnly gave Harry a complicated handshake, involving fists, fingers and an odd wrist flick at the end. Kathleen squeezed Harry in a hug, and he tolerated it well enough, managing to refrain from rolling his eyes until she had scurried from the room.

"Girls," he muttered. "I'm going to my room."

Lily and Alice hugged, and Frank and James exchanged short, if affectionate, handshakes. Frank bent down to whisper something to Remus, who gave a wan smile and nodded.

The sounds of arguing came form the kitchen and Frank briefly closed his eyes.

"I'll take care of it," he said, and strode off. "Kids! You break it, you buy it!"

Lily rolled his eyes. "That's what I get from trying to teach him Muggle phrases."

Alice hovered by the doorway a little uncertainly. "Look, tell Sirius…tell him that I'm very sorry. Tell him that I'm not mad—no. Tell him that I don't blame him."

And with a small smile, she was gone.

The whoosh of the Floo echoed throughout the suddenly empty house and Lily sank back into her seat with an expression of relief.

"Someone should probably get Sirius," she said a bit wearily, rubbing her forehead.

"I'll go get him," said Remus, half-rising from his own chair.

"No, I'll do it," James said, and left, two pairs of eyes tracking his progress.

He found Sirius out in the back garden, chain smoking like a chimney. His friend tossed the lit cigarette stub on the ground and mashed it with the heel of his foot when he saw James coming.

"I know, I know, it's a disgusting habit," said Sirius, holding up a hand. "But I'm trying to quit, I swear."

"Doing a bang up job of quitting," James remarked dryly. "Never should've let Moody hook you onto those."

"I just needed _one_," said Sirius, hugging his arms to himself.

A breeze ruffled his hair.

"Suppose I should pick it up," he added as an afterthought. "Just one more thing for Lily to kill me for."

"The Longbottoms are gone," James said. "Alice says she's sorry."

Sirius grunted, and squinted pensively up at the sky. "Good for her."

James didn't respond, sensing Sirius had more to say.

He waited.

"You ever feel like you're drowning, Prongs?" Sirius said finally, sending a nearby rock flying to the corner of the yard. "Like you're gasping for breath, and you can't break the surface, no matter how hard you try?"

James said nothing, knowing that Sirius was just musing out loud, that it was a simple hypothetical question, and really didn't require an answer. And if he _had_ wanted one…come on, what was he supposed to say to that?

"It's…" Sirius began to gesticulate wildly as he warmed up to what he was saying. "You should've seen those kids today. Fumbling all over the place, couldn't have hit the Giant Squid if they tried. Frank says they're not ready. _I _said that they were ready. But what do _I _know?

"I mean, clearly those kids were not ready for combat. And they're the ones we're going to send out there to die. 'Cause that's what they're going to do, Prongs. They're gonna die. I told Frank that it was only one month into their training, that they could improve. But it was all _bullshit_, mate. You know, I'm supposed to be the optimistic one, but it's getting harder and harder each day to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

James took off his glasses and began wiping them on the sleeve of his robes, for lack of anything to say. And he wished that someone could take his place. He was painfully aware that Sirius was waiting for something—advice, comfort, commiseration—and James, for once, had nothing.

His inspirational speech tank was on empty.

Hackneyed, clichéd words of comfort like "It'll be all right" and "Don't worry"—mostly helpful when dealing with his son—were of no use here. Sirius, for all of his moments of immaturity, was no fool. He was not to be soothed by pithy reassurances, and as the silence began to drag on, James began to scrabble for something to say.

"I, uh," he stammered awkwardly, staring straight up at the sky for inspiration. "Well, um—"

"James," said Sirius quietly. "Do you think we're going to win this war?"

His words had the effect of dealing James a blow to the stomach, leaving him stunned, out of breath, and wordless.

James replaced his glasses and ran his hand through his hair several times, thinking, just thinking. The habit that had once been an arrogant teenager's way of flirting had become a tired adult's way of expressing stress. Long years had passed since the lazy days at the lake, and James was not the only one who had changed.

The evidence was right in front of him.

Gone was the carefree prankster, the handsome Marauder who had swaggered around Hogwarts like he owned the place. In his stead was a new Sirius, the lethal Auror who was ruthless and dependable, capable of killing without batting an eye.

War had given him a sober maturity that would not have existed otherwise.

Of course, it couldn't take away that playful part of his personality that made him _Sirius_ to begin with (and how oxymoronic was _that_). He was still an obnoxiously reckless prat who Lily claimed to be the source of her two gray hairs.

Daft, but brilliant. Absolutely insane. Loyal and goodhearted.

Sirius was truly a study in contradictions.

And he wanted _James _to answer the question of all question, what everyone in Britain wanted to know.

_Thanks, Padfoot. _

_I wonder if I 'accidentally' turn the subject to Quidditch, he'll get the hint and drop it._

"I—"

The door suddenly banged open, and both Marauders turned to find Remus standing there, his light brown hair fluttering in the soft summer wind.

"Lily wants you to come in," he said with an apologetic glance at the door.

James let out a low sigh of relief, and turned to leave, carefully modulating his features so that Sirius would not see gratitude written all over his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius shake his head faintly, _no, don't leave._

Remus looked from James to Sirius and his eyes narrowed perceptibly. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

"We'll be there in a second, mate," Sirius said in a tone of forced casualness, as if they were simply discussing the weather or something equally mundane. "Just want to finish up."

"What are you talking about?" said Remus, crossing his arms, mimicking Sirius' flippancy.

"Quidditch."

"Right," replied Remus disbelievingly, giving Sirius his patented _don't-bullshit-me-I'm-smarter-than-you _look. "And I'm Voldemort."

"Just…give us a couple minutes, yeah?" said Sirius snappishly, his patience finally wearing thin.

Remus held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "I'll be inside."

Sirius waited until his footsteps had faded to turn back to James.

"You never answered my question," he said quietly.

James ran his tongue around his mouth; finding it suddenly, oddly dry.

What do I say?

"I don't know," he said finally, deciding that it was better to tell Sirius the truth. "I don't know whether we'll win this war, but I'll damn sure die trying."

"Good," said Sirius with a decisive nod.

"You all right? Need me to give you a couple minutes?" James offered, inching away from his friend, and the uncomfortable itchy sensation that had flushed upward from his damn periwinkle collar.

"No, no, I'm fine. Splendid, as a matter of fact."

Sirius grinned almost maniacally, face alighting with a strange determined happiness, as though he would ward way his melancholy by simply _acting_ as though he was cheerful.

These sudden mood changes were common; he was the only wizard James knew who could simply flip his emotions off and on like a Muggle light switch. But his unpredictability was unsettling; and James turned away, choosing not to comment on how his friend had just gone from categorically depressed to totally upbeat in the mere span of six seconds.

"Should we head in?" James said at length.

Sirius bobbed his head and pushed open the heavy ornate iron door, gallantly holding it open for James. He bowed, adding an obsequious flourish of his hand.

"Age before beauty."

"Like anyone would call you beautiful," James shot back quickly, deciding to give into Sirius' almost obsessive need to put what had just happened behind him.

They passed through the empty dining room, and Sirius snagged a green apple from the bowl of fruit that sat on top of the table. He bit into it, and crunched loudly as he proceeded tell James just exactly what he thought of him.

"'oo 'nd ee ster rogns," he said, waving a finger melodramatically. Sirius swallowed with difficulty, and took another large bite. "I xpec biter ov oo."

"Whatever you say, mate," James deadpanned.

"Really, though," said Sirius, switching back into a somber mood. "I do appreciate it."

"Sure," said James, a bit surprised. "I'd do anything for you."

Sirius, in response, polished off his apple and galloped into the kitchen, where Lily was levitating dishes into the cupboard. She gave Sirius an uncertain smile.

He grinned back, and chucked the apple core at Remus, who was bent over the table, quill flowing across thin parchment. It bounced off his head, and he sat up, startled and completely irritated.

"That hurt," said Remus flatly. "Don't do that."

"Ah, Remus, you'd think that you'd be used to it by now," replied James, unable to hide his laughter. "After all those times we pelted you in the common room…"

"Just because I'm used to it, doesn't mean I have to _like_ it," said Remus wearily. "This is really very important—"

"It's not _that _important," said Lily with a roll of her eyes. "It's just your syllabus. You _do _realize that you have until August, right?"

"I like planning my classes early," Remus said stubbornly. "I'm assuming that you haven't finished, yeah?"

"Nope," said Lily smugly. "Finished it the second week of the summer holidays."

"Of course," replied Remus and turned back to the table, muttering quietly, "And you call _me_ mental."

The fireplace suddenly crackled, and all four whirled around, faces tense and wary. Green flames flickered, and Peter's short, stubby figure stumbled out, tripping over the hem of his robes. He occupied himself with brushing soot off his robes before lifting his head to grin brightly at James, Lily, Remus and Sirius. They did not return the favor, staring grimly at him, baffled by his happiness.

"I have excellent news," he announced, addressing the room at large. "And my middle name is Pacey."

James narrowed his eyes. "You could've gotten that from the public records. Tell us something that only the _real_ Peter would know."

"On the first night of our seventh year," Peter began solemnly, "We 'encouraged' Snape to dress in a pink tutu and fly off the Astronomy tower singing "God Save the Queen.""

"That was _you_?" Lily cocked an eyebrow.

Sirius' face took on a dreamy expression. "Best. Prank. Ever."

She rounded on her husband. "You told me that No-Inhibitions Potion was to help Remus get a girlfriend!"

"Hey!"

James held up his hands. "It's not my fault everyone thought you were a poof."

"I like women!"

"No need to get all defensive, mate," said James, chuckling. "Unless there's something you're not telling us…"

"Remus and I slept together last night," Sirius announced. "He likes to top."

"Oh dear god." Remus buried his head in his hands, groaning. "I hate you, Sirius."

"I love you too, cuddle bear."

"Excuse me, excuse me," said Peter loudly, raising his voice over the ruckus. "I have some really important news."

"You're gay too?"

"Can it, Sirius," said Lily. "You're embarrassing your boyfriend."

"I hate you, Lily."

"HELLO! I HAVE IMPORTANT NEWS!"

"THEN SAY IT ALREADY!" James bellowed back.

"I PROPOSED TO ALLISON! SHE SAID YES!"

"Well, it's about time," said James with a grin, clapping him on the back. "You've only been dating her for four years."

"And living together for two," Sirius chimed in. "I swear, Peter, I was starting to think that you had commitment issues."

"_I _have commitment issues?" said Peter, raising an eyebrow. "Looked in the mirror lately?"

"Do you want some ice for that burn?" said Lily, snickering. "Congratulations, Peter. I'm so happy for you. Alice will be so pleased. She's been wondering when you were going to make her little sister an honest woman."

Allison Kimberly was Alice Longbottom's junior by five years and younger than Peter by two. She was remarkably similar to her sister in facial features; they had the same round faces and dimpled cheeks when they smiled, their dark wavy hair was even styled similarly. Temperament wise, however, the two could not have been more different. Alice was outgoing where Allison was quiet, reckless where Allison was cautious. They had even been sorted in different houses; Allison in Ravenclaw, Alice in Gryffindor. But for all their differences, the two sisters were very close.

So close, in fact, that Alice had taken Peter aside one meeting and had threatened to hex his bits off if he didn't propose to her little sister in a month.

That had been a week ago.

Perhaps Peter had taken her advice to heart.

"Yes, congratulations," said Remus warmly. "I'm sure that the two of you will be very happy together."

"You're naming your firstborn after me, remember?" said Sirius gravely. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, I think that was the same night that we slipped that potion to Snape."

"When we got pissed and starting lobbing liquor bottles off the Astronomy Tower?" James offered.

"That's the one."

"I am _not_ naming my son Sirius," insisted Peter. "And Allison and I aren't even planning to have kids yet."

"I think Sirius Pettigrew has a nice ring to it."

"In what world?" James laughed incredulously.

"I'll leave you boys to talk," said Lily, and she slipped quietly out of the room, a knowing smile on her face.

"Speaking of rings, what does it look like?" said Remus curiously.

"Well, I don't have it with me—"

"_Really, _Wormtail?" interjected Sirius, in a tone of facetious disbelief.

"—but I _could_ project an illusion that shows its image," finished Peter.

"What spell do you use?" Remus asked.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

James laughed. "You've been watching too much Muggle telly, Peter."

"Please." He scoffed. "We Curse Breakers came up with that saying _way_ before the Muggles did."

"Show us the ring," Sirius whined.

"All right, all right." Peter drew his wand and drew a silvery circle in the air, his eyes closed in concentration.

"Fascinating," Remus murmured. "Are those memories?"

"Uh-huh. _Firmisu Noisulli._"

The circle strengthened, becoming more solidified as seconds passed. It shimmered brightly, and a shiny ring appeared where mist had been present just moments before.

"Don't touch it," Peter warned, as Remus went to finger the band. "It dissolves on instant contact."

"It's so real looking," Remus marveled, sounding more enthralled by the spellwork than its actual result. "I'm assuming that it's derived from memories."

Peter nodded, impressed. "That's the general idea behind it. You know, the Illusion Charm is what's responsible for all those Muggle reports of what they call 'mirages.'"

James squinted at the ring. "Could the diamond get any smaller?"

Peter shot him a disgruntled glare. "Not all of us have family heirlooms to pass down to their wives."

James heaved a dramatic sigh. "I'm just saying you could spring for a bigger stone."

"This is most of my paycheck as it is. I get a bigger diamond and I'll be bumming breakfast, lunch and dinner at your house. For months!"

"Settle down, Wormtail. I was just kidding with you."

"Ha, ha," replied Peter sarcastically.

He fell into a huffy silence, and vanished the ring with a wave of his wand.

"I think it's great," said Remus sincerely. "Allison is going to love it."

"Thank you, Remus." Peter looked mollified. "You know, I think we should decide best man, now."

There were murmurs of agreement.

"We'll draw straws just like we did last time," Peter said. He turned to Sirius. "Sorry, you're out."

Sirius nodded. "Naturally."

"My bachelor party was spiffing, remember, Moony?" said James with an air of reminiscence.

"I remember needing _two_ doses of Hangover Potion. And Lily kicked your arse," replied Remus, snickering.

"If Sirius hadn't brought the firewhiskey, I would be able to actually remember what you're talking about," said Peter.

"You thought it was a good idea at the time."

"Of course I did. I was an idiot."

"Let's get on with this, yeah?" said Remus.

Sirius looked at him, smiling slyly. "Got someplace you need to be?"

"Well, I'd really like to get on with my syllabus."

Sirius made a face. "That's like saying you want to do _paperwork_. You need to get out more, mate. Get yourself a bird, or something."

"Right, because witches are just banging down my door," replied Remus, a tad acerbically. "They _all_ want to date me."

Peter cleared his throat significantly. "Gentleman, can we get back to business?"

The other Marauders grinned at each other meaningfully.

"Since when are we _gentleman_?"

"Since when is Pete so anal retentive?"

"That's you, Remus."

"Shut up, Sirius."

"Are we boring you?"

"Do _you_ have someplace to go?"

"Ah, yes. _This _ought to be good."

"I'm going cake shopping," said Peter calmly.

This phrase stopped all three men in their tracks.

James looked outrage. "You're skipping out on us for _cake shopping_?"

"Allison wants me—"

"We're losing him," said Sirius sadly. "First this, next thing you know, he's carrying around his wife's handbag."

"It's for the wedding."

"I don't care if it's for a bloody hippogriff—men don't get involved with wedding plans, am I right, Remus?"

Remus shrugged. "You'd know better than I would, Prongs."

"Well, I am right."

"Can we get on with this?" said Peter loudly.

He snipped two different sized pieces of parchment and closed his fist around them. "Whoever gets the shorter piece is best man."

"Go ahead, Prongs."

"No, you."

"They'll be doing this all night if we let them," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Remus, just pick."  
Remus pulled out a short, stubby piece. "I guess that's me, then."

"Splendid," said James briskly, rubbing his hands. "Remus is best man, which means that he's godfather."

"I'm sure that—"

"Don't protest. Sirius added that clause in a long time ago. It's only fair."

"Well, I'm not sure that werewolves are _allowed_ to be godfathers." Remus bit his lip, looking suddenly anxious. "James, you better take it."

"Remus, don't be ridiculous. All those stupid laws were canned when Umbridge was murdered last year. You don't have anything to worry about."

"But—"

"Do I have to force you to make an Unbreakable Vow?" James threatened. "I'll do it, you know. Are you willing to do this or not?"

"Fine," he muttered gloomily. "But don't be surprised if they cart me off to Azkaban the minute Peter's child is born."

"Ah, we won't be trying for children for a while," said Peter cheerfully. "You have a couple of months, at the very least."

"See, you can finish out the school year, Moony," said Sirius, grinning.

"I'm glad to see that you think my inevitable incarceration is something to make jokes about."

"If we don't laugh, we cry," said Sirius.

"I agree," said Peter, nodding.

"Whoa, whoa, this is getting a little too depressing for me," said James, laughing a little nervously. "I'm not sure I can handle two breakdowns in one day."

"Who broke down?"

"Sirius," said James promptly.

"I did not break down," he replied indignantly. "I just—"

"—broke down," finished James with a nod.

"Let's talk about something else," said Remus hastily, sensing another brewing storm on Sirius' face, and hoping to avoid another well, breakdown. "Did you hear that Charlie Weasley just got recruited as a Seeker for England?"

"Ah, yeah, I did hear that," said Peter quickly. "Bill came into my office this morning; excited, you know? It'll mean a lot more money for their family, and he won't have to shoulder the burden anymore. You know, ever since Arthur Weasley died last year, Bill's been trying to pay the family bills the best he can."

"Didn't you say that you and Allison help out?" said Remus.

"Oh, sure. It's the least we can do, considering Allison used to work for Arthur before she became an Obliviator. She mentors the third oldest…uh, Percy, I think his name is. He wants to go into the Ministry."

"How many kids do they have?" asked James.

"Seven."

Sirius whistled. "And I thought the McKinnons' four kids was a lot."

"That's nothing compared to the Weasley brood," chuckled Remus. "I've taught Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and I'll be teaching the youngest son this year. They've got a younger daughter at home, though."

"What's the son's name?" said James.

"Ron," said Peter. "He'll be in Harry and Neville's year."

"You know, I really hope that your son keeps the havoc to a minimum," said Remus to James. "I get _so_ tired of staying for detentions."

"Too bad," replied James, smirking. "I told him to create as much havoc as possible."

"I'll set him straight before the school year starts," Remus promised. "He'll pull pranks in every class _but_ mine."

"And Lily's," added James. "She hates anything disturbing her precious potions."

"Potions is a very exact art!" came Lily's voice from the living room. "You could die if anything goes wrong!"

A loud pop punctuated this remark, and for the second time that day, the fireplace came to life, bathing the Marauders in soft green light. James drew his wand apprehensively, and stepped forward as Allison Kimberly stepped into the kitchen, and began to talk a mile a minute.

"Hello, boys, I'm so glad to see you, of course," she said with a smile, and drew her thick brown hair up into a lopsided ponytail. "I'm assuming Peter has already told you the wonderful news, yes? I just came from Alice and Frank's; they're thrilled, of course. Well, I'm planning to throw an engagement party, of course, and you are invited. Peter and I don't want to invite too many people, of course, but we couldn't leave you four out. Wait, where's Lily? Anyway, so it'll be at that French restaurant Soleil a week from now, five o clock, so clear your schedules. Peter, we've got to go find a cake. The wedding is in a month, we can't not have cake!"

Allison finished her soliloquy, and smiled charmingly at the three men who looked on in dumfounded silence. She was almost unrecognizable. Normally calm and unflappable, almost to the point of being detached, Allison tended to prefer logic to emotion. But this woman, with her bright eyes and flushed cheeks, did not look like the prim and composed witch who usually graced the Marauder get-togethers.

Peter, however, remained unimpressed. He had, no doubt, heard this neurotic, fast paced rant all before.

"Congratulations," Remus managed to say through his astonishment. "I'll definitely be there."

"Me too," said Sirius, who looked as though he desperately wanted to laugh.

"James and I will be there!" Lily called.

James shrugged. "I guess we're going."

"Don't be excited about it, or anything, mate," said Peter.

"I'm a little scared, to tell you the truth," said James in an undertone, giving Peter's fiancé a quick, fearful glance.

"How do you think _I _feel?" said Peter. "You're not the one who has to live with her."

"All women are like that about a wedding," said James knowledgeably. He shot Allison a nervous look. "Lily charmed quills to write on me until I worked on the wedding invitations. It was permanent ink, and it took weeks before I was finally able to scrub it off with Mrs. Scower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover."

"Isn't that toxic?"

"Yeah," said James mournfully. "I had a rash on my arse for a month."

Peter guffawed loudly. "That's just sad, Prongs."

"Just you wait, Wormtail," replied James loftily. "You'll see. Two days from now, you'll be begging her to just elope. I don't know what it is about a wedding that turns women into nutty banshees."

"Well, it's stressful," said Peter, almost automatically jumping to the defense of his future wife.

"Peter, darling," Allison started, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I'm thinking about getting two cakes. That'd leave enough for all of our guests, of course. Or maybe we should get three; just to make sure that no one goes without, of course. What do you think?"

"Whatever you want, dear," said Peter nervously.

"Of course," Allison said serenely. "I think four would be appropriate."

"Then again, she was always _did_ have a screw loose," muttered James quietly.

"Hey, that's my fiancé you're talking about."

"It's not my fault you're marrying a mad woman."

"Peter, we should go," said Allison. "That appointment with the caterer is at six, we don't want to miss it, of course."

"It's a quarter till four," Peter protested.

"All the more reason we should go, of course."

"But, uh…"

"Don't you want to be early? Come on, it'll be fun, of course. "

"Right," Peter gulped.

And with sounded suspiciously like a whimper, Peter was whisked away in the hands of his intended, his chubby face full of terrified horror.


	5. Quicksand

**Disclaimer:**_ Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people or events are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note: **First of all, I apologize for the wait. This chapter started out radically different than how I originally intended, as most of chapter six. Secondly, for plot purposes, I have changed Neville's birthday to be the 31st of July. I also shamelessly borrowed a line from PS. Props to those of you who can find it!

**Author's Note 2: **Thanks for reading and reviewing as always, and enjoy the cliffy at the bottom!

**Thanks to Flo M Nimo for the correction.**

* * *

_Life is like a mean machine  
It made a mess outta me  
It left me caught between  
Like an angry dream I was stranded  
--_Rob Thomas, This is How A Heart Breaks

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 30, 1991_

_A week later  
_

Lily stood in front of her closet and rifled frantically thorough the many dresses hanging there. No…no…no…she sighed in frustration and threw herself back onto her bed, staring at the piles of finery that she had carelessly tossed onto the floor. It was the day of the engagement party, and she had nothing to wear. _This is just wonderful_, she grumbled quietly, and knelt down to scoop up the robes and tossed them onto her bed, deciding to sort out the dress robes from her everyday clothes.

Well, maybe she needed another opinion. A _male _opinion. And good thing there was a male at home.

Lily smiled to herself and grabbed a fine chiffon turquoise robe, a scarlet silk robe and a velvet black robe and draped them on her arm. She walked out of the room and headed down the hall to Remus' room. He lived with them during each summer. Initially, Remus stayed in his usual quarters like he did during the school year, but found the empty castle not to his liking. And apparently watching McGonagall and her husband go at each other by the lake wasn't exactly his head of a good holiday either.

She raised her hand and knocked at the door.

"Come in," came Remus' hoarse voice.

The full moon had been two days ago, and he was still recovering from the horrific transformation. No amount of Wolfsbane Potion could ease the pain and trauma his body underwent every month. Pain relieving potions made movement easier, but Remus did not like using them, because repeated use tended to lessen their effect, and increase chances of addiction.

So he rested quietly, sleeping most of the time, and eating the meals that Lily brought to him in bed. Even Harry, who was around Remus constantly, knew not to bother him after full moons.

Remus looked up, and his face creased in a smile upon seeing her face.

"This is a surprise," he said, laying aside the book he had been reading. "I thought you'd be getting ready for the party."

"I was," she replied, settling herself at the foot of his bed. "But then I realized I had nothing to wear. What are you reading?"

"_Sorts de Magie Noire Avancés par Claude Bastien_," said Remus. "Translated, Advanced Dark Arts Curses. Dumbledore gave it to me. He wants me to brush up on my French."

"For an undercover mission?"

"Probably. He didn't actually come out and say that, but I got the feeling that it was something along those lines. After all, not many others in the Order can speak French besides me."

"True."

"So, what are you doing with those robes?"

Lily grinned sheepishly. She had almost forgotten her reason for visiting in the first place.

"Well, I couldn't decide which one I wanted to wear…and I was hoping that you'd be able to help me out."

Remus gave her a deeply skeptical look. "You want _me_ to pick out your clothes? Wasn't it just yesterday that you were urging me to throw away half my wardrobe?"

"I still maintain that a man your age shouldn't be wearing sweater vests, but that's besides the point. Now, do you like the turquoise, the black or the red?"

He shrugged diplomatically. "They all look nice."

She leveled him with a _don't-do-this-to-me_ look. "Pick."

"The, well, um. The red's nice, I suppose."

"You don't like the turquoise?"

"That one's nice too," he said uncertainly.

"What's wrong with the black?"

"Um…" He gestured helplessly. "Can't you just do it yourself?"

"I can't decide," she complained. "Help me!"

"All right, all right. I like that one."

She dangled the scarlet robe in front of him. "This one?"

"Yes."

Lily tilted her head and took a closer look at it, admiring the plunging neckline, and tenuous spaghetti straps. Ruffles waved softly up at her, as she fingered the soft silk folds thoughtfully, picturing it on herself. Yes, this would do.

She gave him an approving nod. "I think I'll go with this one."

"Glad to be of service," he replied dryly. "Nice to know that I'm not completely useless."

"You're not useless," she said, without any real feeling. They had had this same conversation yesterday evening, when he had been too ill to attend the Order meeting. In fact, she was pretty sure that they had the same conversation after _every_ full moon, when his self-esteem tended to be in the toilet.

"Sure," Remus said, not convinced. He coughed a little.

She frowned. "Are you feeling all right, Remus?"

"I'm fine," he replied quickly.

"Maybe you should stay at home and rest."

"No." Remus shook his head. "I can't do that."

"We would understand."

"Allison wouldn't." The dead tone brooked no argument.

"Is that why you're insisting on coming?" Lily felt herself bristle at the just the thought of the younger woman dragging poor, ill Remus out to some party that he wasn't well enough to attend. "Because of her? You don't have to come just to please her. She can just shove her damn party up her arse. Although it might be a tough fit along with that pole she's got there already."

"I'm fine," Remus interrupted, smiling a little.

She snorted derisively.

"Well, I _am_ feeling a little under the weather," he admitted. "But it's nothing a Pepper Up can't handle. Look, I'm Peter's best man. I can't let him down."

"I'm fairly certain that Peter would understand," said Lily with no small amount of sarcasm.

"Lily. Please. I know you mean well, but honestly, I'll be fine. Now, it's four thirty, and I'd like to get dressed."

"Of course," she said, nodding, and stood up. "I'm going to go call James and Harry in from playing Quidditch. I'll see you downstairs. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime."

She walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her as she went.

Remus let out a relieved breath, and sank back against the pillows. The mere act of appearing normal was harder than he had anticipated. But he would get through it. He always did.

Sighing, he reached out for the tall glass of water by his bedside, ignoring the slight shaking of his hand. It was soothing to his dry throat, and he gulped it down gratefully. His head pulsed with a slight headache, and his bones still felt like they had been run over with an iron: warm, tender, and incredibly painful.

Remus' hand hovered above a Pain Relieving Potion, and he picked up carefully, unscrewing the cap and swallowing the rest of it in one gulp, wincing as he did so. The taste was a cross between baking soda and toothpaste, and it had the consistency of concrete. But it was nothing compared to Pepper Up, which was what he turned to next.

Grimacing, he took a swig of the smooth, fiery, cinnamon potion, sputtering as the medicine burned a trail of fire down his throat. Smoke poured of his nose and ears, and it was good two minutes before he could see the world without tears blinding his vision. He blinked hard, silently rejoicing as images returned bright and clear.

Remus stood and walked to his dresser, already feeling the noticeable difference that the potions had brought.

_Yes,_ he thought with a smile, _the evening might go well after all._

The pain was thankfully gone, headache reduced to a quiet presence at the back of his eyelids. Carefully, he shrugged out of pajamas, and pulled on his black and white dress robes. No matter what Allison said, this occasion was definitely _not_ 'casual'. Her definition tended to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, when compared with his.

It was not that he did not like Peter's fiancé, Remus mused, tying his bowtie with some difficulty. It was that he was sometimes sure that she did not like _him_.

Unlike Alice, who tended to wear her heart proudly on her sleeve, Allison kept her emotions as tightly close to her chest as he did. And Remus, who had honed his observational skills from years of being dismissed as that quiet bloke—because next to James and Sirius _everyone_ was quiet—knew how to read people. And something about Peter's cold, sometimes snobby fiancé rubbed him the wrong way.

Some of that uneasiness stemmed from their first meeting—she had not been especially pleased that one of Peter's best friends happened to be a werewolf. But most of it came from casually observing her interactions with other Order members—and that brittle smile that always flashed a second too late. He was good at recognizing liars. He could he not when he _was _one?

The sharp rap at the door startled him and he grabbed for his wand and pointed it at the door before realizing how thoroughly ridiculous he was being.

"Who is it?" he asked, keeping his voice steady. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't bring himself to lower his hand.

"James." The heavy oak door muffled his voice. "You decent?"

"Yes," Remus replied, and reluctantly slid his wand into the pocket of his robes. "Come in."

James stepped inside; his dark hair wet and messed up from the shower. He wore dark green dress robes, the high-necked collar accentuating his aristocratic features.

"Nice robes," said Remus.

"Thank you. Lily picked them out for me." James eyed his friend speculatively, adding frankly, "You look like shit."

Remus grimaced. "Thanks. Pass that potion to me, will you?"

James tossed the Pain Relieving Potion into his cupped hands, catching it with the effortlessness of an ex-keeper.

"_Reducio." _ He tucked the now tiny bottle into his breast pocket. "Ready to go?"

"In all honesty, Moony, you _do_ look a bit peaked," James continued, as they left Remus' room and jogged down the stairs.

"Well, it _was_ a full moon," said Remus defensively. Really, what did they want from him? "I don't know what you're expecting."

James shrugged. "I'm just saying, if you want to stay home…"

"Not you too," Remus mumbled.

They turned into the kitchen, James whistling tunelessly, and Remus feeling slightly irritated. Harry, who was sitting on top of the counter and eating a ham sandwich, leapt off as soon as he saw them coming.

"Hullo," he said through a mouthful. He looked up at them innocently. "You're leaving soon?"

"As soon as your mother decides which shoes she wants to wear."

"You'll be waiting forever," said Harry wisely.

"Tell me about it. What's wrong with the kitchen table?"

"I like eating on the counter."

"Well…go ahead. Just don't let your mother catch you sitting up there."

Harry grinned and hoped back up, happily finishing the rest of his sandwich.

"Lily! We have to go!" James called.

"I'm coming!"

"We're going to be late!" he said, and muttered, "How long does it take to get dressed?"

Footsteps clattered down the stairs and Lily appeared, wrapping a sheer red shawl around her shoulders as she went. Her dark red hair was swept up in a chignon, and was secured with a glittering diamond barrette. She carried a red clutch to match her dress, and wore deadly looking red stilettos.

"What took you so long?" James demanded.

Lily glared. "Do you want to live to see tomorrow?"

"Where's your wand?" asked Remus, who couldn't help noticing that her dress did not look like it could conceal 10 ¼ inches of willow.

"You do _not_ want to know," Lily muttered darkly.

"Can we go?" whined James.

"What are you in such a rush for?"

"We're going to be late."

"We are not," said Lily dismissively. "And we cannot leave yet. We need to wait for the baby sitter."

"I can stay home by myself," said Harry hopefully.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" replied James with a laugh. "Don't count on it, Pronglet."

"It was one time," Harry protested. "I didn't mean to set the sofa on fire!"

"First and _last_ time," Lily said firmly. "The point is that it happened. No, we're waiting for Angie and that is that."

Angela "Angie" McKinnon was the 17-year-old daughter of Marlene, oldest of four, and sister to Derek, Grace and Ros. She had been recently made Head Girl, and was an aspiring teacher, as well as the designated baby sitter for Order Families. She routinely watched Harry and Neville during meetings, and graciously accepted whatever they paid her. During the scarce times that one of the Marauder adults were unable to watch Harry, Angie made the short trip by Floo to watch him.

Such was the case today.

"What time did you tell her to be here?" asked James.

Lily leaned against the table. "Four thirty."

"She's late," said James. His brow wrinkled with concern. "She's never been late before."

"You don't think something…" Lily allowed her voice to trail off, not willing to articulate what they were all thinking.

"Don't say it," Remus advised quietly, leaning against the table for support.

"Maybe one of us should go over and check," Lily said. "Maybe I'll just pop over—"

"No," James cut her off firmly. "If anyone's going, it will be me."

"I'm perfectly able to fight, James," Lily snapped, her green eyes flashing with righteous anger. "I am _not_ breakable."

"I never said you were. I just don't want to you to get hurt."

"Maybe you didn't hear what I said. I _can_ fight, you know. Just because I'm not a damn Auror doesn't mean that I'm some helpless witch that needs protecting."

"I never said that!" yelped James. "Fine. You want to get yourself killed, go right ahead, _darling_."

No sooner had Lily taken a decisive step forward than a disheveled figure appeared in the fireplace, and stumbled out, catching herself on the mantle just in time.

"Hello," said Angie, and straightened up. "I'm so sorry that I'm late. I tried Apparating here, but it…didn't go so well. I sort of Splinched myself."

The room stayed silent as they waited for the teenager to ask them the question that they were all waiting for.

"Ask us," said Lily finally, as the tense silence began to drag on.

"Wha—? Oh, right. Identifying question. Well…um, where was last night's Order meeting held?"

"Emmeline Vance's kitchen," said Lily. "Who signed your Head Girl's letter?"

"You," replied Angie, smiling. "And Professor McGonagall, and Professor Lupin."

"Is that correct?" said James.

"Yes," said Remus. "You said you Splinched yourself…are you all right?"

"Oh, definitely. It was only my nose."

"I once Splinched half of my foot," James commiserated. "Healers had to use Skele-Grow to grow it back."

"Why didn't they just reattach it?" said Angie curiously.

"They would have if they'd been able to reach it. We were in the middle of a battle at the time and—"

"James, we're going to be late," Lily interrupted, tugging at his sleeve.

"Just two minutes ago you said we weren't. Anyway, the—"

"I'm sure Angie doesn't want to hear that," insisted Lily.

Remus gave the girl a glance. She did indeed look slightly green. Whirling about in the fireplace did not help the aftereffects of a Splinching, and James' potentially gory story could make her even more ill.

"Yes, we should go," he agreed, Lily's perceptiveness winning out over his own desire to prolong their stay at the house.

"It was just getting to the good part," Harry protested.

"You can tell her yourself," encouraged James. "You've heard it enough times."

"All right," said Harry eagerly. He dashed to the doorway.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" prompted Lily, holding out her arms.

Harry ran back and threw himself at her, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"We'll be home around midnight, okay? Angie will get you dinner, and I don't want you to go out playing Quidditch after 6 o'clock."

"Don't worry, professor," said Angie. "We'll be spending most of the evening inside. I brought over some books that I thought he might like to read. An early birthday gift."

Harry's face lit up. "Really? Which ones?"

"Why don't you say good bye to your parents and we'll go up to your room and look at them."

"Thank you, Angie!" he exclaimed. "Bye Dad, bye Remus."

And he darted out of the room without sparing them a second glance.

"That was very nice of you, Angie," said James. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to, Mr. Potter," she replied and shrugged. "They weren't that expensive anyway."

"Which ones did you get?" asked Lily.

"_The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1_ and _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_."

"Well, I guess we don't have to go shopping for those tomorrow," said James with a grin.

"Thank you," said Lily, smiling. "It means a lot to us that you went through all that trouble for him."

"He's like a little brother to me, professor," replied Angie. "It wasn't any trouble at all."

"Angie, are you coming?" Harry's impatient voice drifted down from the second floor.

"I'm being summoned," said Angie, smiling and nodded to each of them in turn. "Have a nice night, Professors, Mr. Potter."

"You too," they chorused.

She slipped out of the room.

They Apparated as a group, materializing in the set aside Apparition Point a couple blocks down from the restaurant. Most owners disliked people landing directly in their establishments, for practicality as well as security purposes. Despite the fancy name, most Apparition Points were nothing more than a large area covered with Muggle Repelling Charms to discourage Muggles from wandering by.

This one was no exception.

The alley they had arrived in was narrow, dark, and absolutely filthy. Remus looked around with mild disgust. A foul odor wafted up from one of the overturned rubbish bins by his foot, and a rat scurried into a crumbling hole to his immediate left. Carefully, they picked their way out, being careful to avoid brushing up against the walls on either side. Mud squelched happily underfoot.

"My shoes are ruined," Lily remarked unhappily. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have worn them."

"Just get new ones," suggested James. "It's as easy as that."

"Do you _know_ how hard it is to find shoes in my size?"

"I don't think I want to know," said James firmly.

Lily harrumphed. "Then don't tell me it's easy when it's not."

At the back of the group, Remus grinned, enjoying the scene unrolling in front of him. It was astounding on the number of capital offenses James could commit within two seconds of opening up his mouth. No matter how many times Lily had sacked him for saying something similar in the past, he always tended to forget and say the same thing all over again. It was highly entertaining.

They emerged from the dark alley, and began to walk down the street, Lily's heels clacking merrily along the pavement. Soleil's bright wooden sign swung gaily in the warm summer breeze.

In the distance, Alice and Frank stood next to the restaurant's double doors, chattering energetically with Allison and Peter. Sirius leaned against the building in a laconic way, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes every so often. He was deep in conversation with two red haired wizards and a pink haired witch, all of whom were clad in evening finery. A twitchy smile tugged at the corner of Sirius' lips.

"Sirius, if you call me that one more time, I'm going to _slap_ you," the witch snarled.

"She will," added the stockier red haired man seriously. "I've been on the receiving end of her slaps before. They _hurt_, Tonks."

"That was just a love tap, Charlie." She scoffed. "I barely hit you."

Charlie gave her a deeply mournful look. "Tell that to the bruise on my arm."

Tonks smirked. "If you can't handle little old me, how are you going to be able to face Bludgers?"

"I'll manage."

Sirius straightened up as he caught sight of Remus, Lily and James making their way toward him, the smile brightening noticeably.

He waved.

Remus hesitated, and then waved back, feeling foolish.

"About time you lot showed up," Sirius called out cheerfully. "We were about to send out a search party."

"We were waiting for the baby sitter," explained James.

"You hired Angie?" said Frank, coming along to greet them, Alice in tow. "I convinced my mother to take the goblins for the night. I feel sorry for her."

"I feel sorry for the kids," muttered Alice.

"They have her wrapped around their fingers," said Frank, snorting. "They'll be fine."

The Weasley brothers and Tonks watched this exchange with interest as Allison and Peter walked around the group to insinuate themselves into the conversation.

"You're late," Allison commented disapprovingly.

"At least they're here, right, Ally?" Peter interrupted soothingly.

Remus wondered if he too, had caught sight of murder flashing in Lily's striking green eyes.

"I suppose," Allison said, nodding. "Of course, it's better late than never."

Lily flattened her mouth into a thin line, and she turned to the Weasleys with some relief.

"It's so nice to see you three again," she said sweetly. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm in Auror training, professor," Tonks offered.

"Please, call me Lily," she said, insistent. "And you too, Mr. Weasley."

"Charlie," said the younger Weasley, with a wide grin.

"Tonks," she said, throwing a dirty look at Sirius.

"You may also call me by my first name," Remus added, smiling.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing at Soleil?" Lily cocked her head, and looked at Bill. "It _is_ a rather expensive restaurant."

"We're celebrating," he explained proudly, tossing his brother a fond look. "Charlie is the new Seeker for England."

"I did hear that," replied Lily. "That is a wonderful honor. Congratulations."

"Yes, indeed. Congratulations," said Remus.

Charlie shrugged. "I'd honestly much rather be working with dragons, truth be told."

"Then why did you accept the offer?"

"It'd be easier on my mother. She doesn't like it when people leave her," Charlie mumbled, his ears turning a curious shade of red under Lily's inquisitive gaze. He hastened to explain." Especially after my dad."

"Oh," said Lily quietly.

"There'd be more money, too," added Charlie, a bit defensively. "And I do love playing Quidditch."

"We all sacrificed something for mum," Bill said, so quietly that Remus had to strain to hear him.

The double doors swung open, and the Weasleys turned to the source of the disturbance with palpable relief. Even after a year, the subject of their father's death was clearly still a source of pain for both men.

Arthur Weasley had not joined the Order when Voldemort had first come to power, even when his wife's two brothers joined, and his oldest son. He was not an Auror, the Minister of Magic, or anyone vitally important to the Ministry. He was an average overworked Ministry worker until the day that Augustus Rookwood solicited him to become a spy in the Order ranks, and he did something unique: he refused.

And he died shortly afterward.

Rumor had it that that he had been taken to Malfoy Manor and tortured for three days, and that Malfoy himself had taken charge of the 'interrogation' near the end.

Rumor had it that death had not been swift for Arthur Weasley.

The truth, of course, was always worse than rumor.

"Weasley, party of three?" called a pretty blonde witch, who was a holding a tightly wound scroll of parchment.

"That's us," said Bill. "Well, it's nice seeing you again, Remus, Lily. I'll see you next week."

"I'll see you next week too," added Charlie.

Remus gave a tight nod, recognizing the not so subtle reference to next week's Order meeting. "Enjoy your dinner."

Bill turned to Peter. "See you tomorrow."

"Good-bye, Bill."

The others murmured similar sentiments as Tonks, Charlie and Bill were led into the restaurant.

"We should go in as well," said Allison.

"Don't we have to wait for them to call us?" asked James.

"Nope," replied Peter, now holding the door open. "We made reservations, remember?"

They filed in eagerly, and warm, food scented air washed over Remus like a wave. He stood off to the side for a moment, simply taking it all in. The restaurant was decorated in rich, dark tones, with strikingly carved mahogany tables and a thick forest green carpet. On either side lay three columns of tables, while the middle area held two large empty tables.

"Allison Kimberly, party of eight," said Allison, speaking to the blonde haired witch they had seen earlier.

"You're over here, miss," she said, and led them over to one of the empty tables in the middle of the room.

"Enjoy your meal," she said with a cheery smile as they sat down. "A house elf will be by shortly to take your order."

"This is a nice place," said Remus, running a finger along the edge of the delicately crafted porcelain plate in front of him. He picked up the short menu and flipped through the pages.

"It better be for the price we're paying," said Frank, disgruntled. He gave his own menu a disgusted look. "Look at that: one Galleon for a chicken! What, do they take a Portkey all the way to China to get it?"

"We're paying for it, of course," said Allison, poring complacently over the pages.

"We _are_?" said Peter, in a tone of dubious incredulity.

She blinked at him. "Yes, of course."

Peter sputtered. "We're not exactly rolling in gold, Ally."

"It's only polite, of course," Allison lectured.

"Oh, who cares about manners in the company of friends?" Sirius threw in, batting his fringe out of his eyes like an eager cat. "You don't have to pay for it, Pete."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering, Sirius?"

"Nah," he said, laughing and shaking his head. "Let James pay for it. Merlin knows he's got enough gold to fill several tables."

"Hey!" said James indignantly. "What about _your_ inheritance?"

"It's tied up in the greedy hands of my younger brother," said Sirius with a careless shrug. "My mother—may the Devil enjoy her company—didn't see fit to give me a single Knut. Not that I'd take it…on moral grounds, you know? On principle."

"So you're saying that if she gave you five hundred Galleons, you wouldn't take it?" said Alice skeptically, looking up.

"Precisely."

"Mmm, I don't think I have your moral gonads, Black," said Alice. "I'd take it and fly like a Cleansweep."

"Turtles would be passing by you, dear," said Frank, snickering.

"It's an expression, you idiot," said Alice, whacking him with her menu.

Peter cleared his throat. "Excuse me, we haven't settled the issue of the check and—"

"Ah, settle down, Wormtail," said James. "Lily and I will pay. You keep your money. The rest of you lot…get the cheapest thing on the menu."

He grinned to let them know he was joking.

"I think I'll just have a water," said Sirius gravely. "Two Knuts—that cheap enough for you, Prongs?"

"Get the moist towelette," said Remus, grinning. "One Knut."

"All right, it's settled," announced Sirius. "Remus and I will have the moist towelette."

"I've heard it's very good," Peter threw in.

"Belay that, you prats," James said jocularly. "Or you'll be paying for your food yourself."

"How do you think the bouillabaisse is?" Lily queried, her fingers twisting the tablecloth.

"I heard it's terrible," said Sirius.

She sighed disappointedly. "Really? Damn. I've been having this odd craving for seafood lately. Well, I guess I'll just have to go with the tilapia."

"I was kidding."

"Thanks," she muttered sarcastically.

"Anytime," Sirius replied, giving her a broad wink. He looked at Remus. "What're _you_ getting?"

"I don't know; I'm not really hungry," Remus said, turning a page. "What about you?"

"I really like steak," said Sirius solemnly.

"Interesting," said Remus dryly. He set aside his menu. "I'll remember to file that away for future reference."

"Excuse me, sirs and misses," came a squeaky voice from down the table. "I is sorry to be interrupting. I is Jexly. Is you ready to order?"

"Yes, I believe we are," said Allison. "Can I have the shrimp salad, and a carafe of elderberry wine for the table?"

"Steak and kidney pie." Peter.

"Pork chops. And could I also get a gillywater?" Alice.

"Roast chicken." Frank.

"Bouillabaisse." Lily.

"Beef casserole." James.

"Steak." Sirius.

"Shepard's pie." Remus.

"I is going to the kitchen and is getting them for you," said Jexly, bowing low.

"Thank you, Jexly," said Lily.

The house elf's eyes widened and she bowed low, her nose almost touching the ground.

"Miss is very welcome, she is," she said in a breathless squeak and bustled off. "Jexly will be back soon, she will."

Lily turned to Alice. "James and I are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow, to buy school supplies for Harry and celebrate his birthday. Fancy coming along?"

"Lovely idea," replied Alice. "We can take the boys out for lunch; a double celebration, if you will. After all, it _is_ Neville's birthday as well. What do you think, Frank?"

"Sounds good," he replied absently, involved in an absorbing conversation with James about last night's Order meeting.

"I really don't think it was a wise decision to send Benjy to the Parkinson's without any back up," said James. "He's still quite inexperienced when it comes right down to it."

Remus leaned in closer, interested in the information that he had missed.

"Give the bloke some credit," said Sirius dismissively, "Ben knows what he's doing. I _did _train him myself, after all."

"Oh, like _that'll_ make a difference," Alice muttered.

Sirius glared at her.

"Latest reports say that there's only three Death Eaters stationed there," Lily threw in comfortingly. "And that's from our Ace."

She gave them a significant look.

Ace was the codename for Regulus Black, used to refer to him outside of meetings, in case information was overheard.

"I suppose he'll be fine," said James doubtfully.

"Hey, James," said Frank casually. "You hear what happened to Malfoy? He got out of Azkaban."

There was a gasp from the far side of the table as Peter nearly toppled over from his chair in mingled shock and fear.

"You're _k-ki-idding_," he sputtered, hands gripping the table convulsively. "How? When? _Why_?"

Frank eyed him warily. "Got out yesterday. Official report is 'good behavior'. Auror grapevine says that Fudge paid a pretty penny to let him out."

"Fudge?" said Sirius incredulously. "That fat bastard who got booted out to Azkaban because he was taking bribes? Why the fuck are Ministry officials listening to him? And who would take something from Fudge, of all people?"

"Hell if I know," shrugged Frank. "You all right, Peter?"

Peter had broken out in a cold sweat, and was holding his wand in his lap, as his eyes darted from left to right, waiting nervously for an attack.

"He's coming for me," Peter said urgently. "You have to hide me."

"No one's coming after you, Peter," said Lily soothingly.

"I'm endangering you all by sitting here. I have to leave." He made to stand up, but Allison pulled him down gently.

"You'll be fine, of course," she said. "We're perfectly safe, of course."

"Oh, really?" he said, voice growing higher pitched with each growing minute. "That's what we thought when they came for us in December. Or do you not _remember_? _I remember_!"

"Nicely done, Frank," Alice said mockingly. "You went and gave your future brother-in-law a panic attack."

"How was I supposed to know? Look, I'm sorry, Peter."

"Allison, we are leaving," replied Peter, acknowledging Frank's apology with the minutest of nods. He stood up again and pulled Allison with him. "We are holing up in our flat until Malfoy is caught again."

"No one is going anywhere," said James calmly. "Let's just have dinner, and then we can talk about preventative security measures."

"They didn't work so well last time!" Peter rejoined angrily.

"Peter, don't be ridiculous," Sirius started.

"I _am_ not being ridiculous, Sirius, don't you _dare_ call me that. You were _not_ tortured, you have _no _idea what it feels like."

"We should keep our voices down," implored Lily. "People are staring—"

"I've been Cruciated before," Sirius said defensively. "I think that comes pretty damn close."

"It doesn't," Peter snapped. "Trust me."

"Peter, you're a much better dueler than you were back then," said Remus, ever the voice of reason. "And you're with us. We wouldn't let them take you or Allison. Trust _me._"

"You promise, Moony?"

"Yeah. I promise."

Peter gave him a watery smile, and sat down heavily, Allison murmuring something in his ear.

The tension in the air was greatly relieved by Jexly's arrival, plates and drinks bobbing along happily at her side.

"Here is youse foods," she said cheerily, levitating the various plates in front of their respective owners. "Is anything more sirs and missues is requiring of Jexly?"

They shook their heads no.

"Jexly is going back after you is finishing your dinners." She bowed and disappeared with a crack.

"This is very good," said James approvingly, who had already dug into his beef casserole with gusto.

"This does not look good," said Lily, examining the bowl in front of her with a dubious eye. "It's _supposed_ to be bouillabaisse…but I don't think that's what it is."

"What's it taste like?" asked Remus, who was perfectly happy with his own food.

Lily spooned some into her mouth and quickly spat it back out with a nauseated expression.

"I guess that answers your question, eh, Moony?" said James wryly. "You want some of mine, darling?"

"Sure."

"I told you that French is terrible," sing-songed Sirius smugly. "But did you listen? _No_."

"Pipe down there, Pads. We're in a _French_ restaurant. You might offend someone."

"He offends people by just being himself," said Peter, smiling slowly.

"You're so funny," deadpanned James.

"Let me guess…you forgot to laugh?" offered Remus.

"Yeah. Rea—"

Darkness.

"The hell's going on?" Remus heard to his left. Sirius.

Screaming. A female voice. Edge of hysteria.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, it's just dark," said James crossly. "Lumos." His wand cast a soft glow of light onto their table and he directed in the direction of the screaming, to a table near the door. His eyes widened. "Oh fuck. Get down."

"What?"

"Get _down_."

BOOM.

More screaming.

An unctuous voice over the entire ruckus.

"Well, well, well, what a pleasant little reunion."


	6. Second Coming

**Disclaimer:**_ Harry Potter_ and related characters are property of J.K. Rowling; I am merely a humble writer borrowing them for my own selfish purposes. All plots and unrecognizable places, people, events and characterizations are my own.

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, James Potter/Lily Evans

**Author's Note: **I am so very sorry for the wait. It's a horrible thing to do to you guys and I promise never to leave you hanging like that again. In my defense, however, my computer died and I lost this chapter, which had been practically done. It took me awhile to rewrite…but anyway, here it is. Finally. For anyone who is still sticking with this, I thank you. It might be too much to ask, but I would love some reviews. :)

**Author's Note 2: **The line from Philospher's Stone is: "And come back and find the house in ruins?" originally said by Petunia Dursley. I thought it was a nice contrast between canon and this universe.

**In honor of His Greatest Mistake's belated one year anniversary!**

* * *

_The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere  
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;  
The best lack all conviction, while the worst  
Are full of passionate intensity._  
---William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Monday, July 30, 1991_

_Same Day_

Death Eaters crowed the entrance, bringing warm summer air tinged with acrid smoke and fetid death. They stood proudly behind the man who had spoken, blending together in the darkness as one silent judge, jury, and executioner—too many to count from Remus' present position.

He and his friends were huddled under the table like little children playing hide and seek; eight adults pressed up against each other—so close that Remus could smell Sirius' potent breath all around him and why did they have to put garlic on that damn steak? He squinted into the abyss, trying to pair shoes together as he tried to ascertain the approximate number.

Twelve, maybe, he thought, heart plummeting to the bottom of his stomach. Much too many for a simple raid on a restaurant, even incorporating Death Eaters into their plans.

Even as Remus considered this, more explosions came from the left, then the right, as defenseless Muggle shopkeepers were terrorized by horrors they could not have imagined in their darkest nightmares. More smoke billowed in, and the street outside burned red as the Death Eater leader surveyed the scene in front of him with body language that could only be described as smug.

The Marauders and Longbottoms were not the only ones who were eying the Death Eaters with a certain amount of apprehension. Their fellow patrons—who were not fighters by any means—sat rigidly in their seats, some cowering on the floor in abject fright.

A smirk crossed the leader's face.

Everyone watched with baited breath as he glided over to the door, and took hold of a slight, hooded figure, dragging it to stand in his previous position at the head of the group. The hood slipped off, revealing a woman's emaciated features, fear stamped all over her too thin body.

The leader held the tip of his wand to the woman's throat, and she quivered with practiced terror.

"How many months has it been since you stepped inside this restaurant, Mrs. Anatole? Four or five?" His voice was smooth, velvety, even, and he had the audacity to address her conversationally.

"Six months, two weeks, and four days," she replied, her voice wavering.

"Precise," remarked the Death Eater, sounding amused. He turned to the receptionist, his tone hardening. "Where is Pierre Anatole?"

"He's not here," said the witch nervously. "He's in France, on business."

"Pity. It's a shame he won't get to see his restaurant destroyed. Get up!" He addressed the restaurant at large now, still holding Anatole's wife hostage. "Over by the wall, or I kill this bitch where she stands."

"Might help if you put the lights on," Sirius taunted loudly from under the table.

"Sirius, what the hell?" hissed Lily venomously. "We're trying to get out of this alive, not contending for who can get Avada Kedavra'd first!"

"Ah, Black. I should have known," sneered the Death Eater. "Accompanied by the werewolf, the blood traitor and the Mudblood, I presume? Come out here so I can greet you properly."

"Don't do it," warned James.

"Do I look stupid?" said Sirius.

"Considering the stunt that you just pulled, I'm going to say yes."

"Frightened of a little pain?" said the Death Eater. He thrust Mrs. Anatole into the hands of another Death Eater, and walked closer to their table, boots clunking ominously with every step. "Or are you just too much of a coward to face me on your own?"

"Don't answer," said Lily at once. "He'll track you by the sound of your voice."

A rattling sound came from just above Remus' head and he looked up, puzzled.

"Peter, stop that," whispered Frank. "You're making the table shake."

"It's Malfoy," came Peter's anxious moan. "I know it. _Hide us, damnit._"

"It's not Malfoy," replied Sirius coolly. "It's _Snape_. I'd recognize that nose anywhere."

Peter relaxed almost instantly. He peered through the dark, nodded a little and said casually, "Oh. So it is."

"Well, that explains it," mused James. "Recognized ol' Snivelly's voice, then, right, Pads?"

"Yeah," said Sirius with a nod. "Figured I could distract him and you guys could come up with a plan."

"You mean you don't have one?" hissed Alice.

"It was a spur of the moment thing, Alice; what was I supposed to do?"

"Think of a fucking plan, that's what."

"We've got about ninety seconds before he finds us," observed Remus coolly. "So we'd better think fast."

"I think Shock and Awe would work well here," said James firmly, taking control of the situation. "A little theatrics: Blinding Light Charms, Marking Charms to distinguish between friend from foe, then divide and conquer. We'll meet at the Apparition Point."

"Keep in mind: our goal is to distract, not to fight," said Frank quickly, picking up where his friend had left off. "We can't possibly get all of them. Does thirty minutes sound about right?"

"_Lumos_."

The restaurant suddenly filled with light, and there was no time for an answer. Snape stood right in front of them, looking down with a sadistic gleam in his dark eyes. _Oh, Merlin help us_, Remus thought, his heart leaping up to keep company with his Adam's apple.

In a move that shocked all of them, Sirius rolled out from under the table to face Snape. He gave the other wizard a little mocking bow, and held his wand ready at his side.

"Snivelly, how absolutely corking to see you again," he greeted sarcastically. "Last time was when, two months ago? I believe that I cut a chunk out of your arse with a hex, right?" He tilted his head. "Doesn't seem much of an improvement to me."

"It appears that your wit has deteriorated since the last time we saw each other, Black," Snape said silkily. "Impressive considering that it has nowhere to go."

"Nice to know that your manners haven't improved," retorted Sirius, giving his wand a threatening twirl. "Some things never change."

"Immature and obnoxious, as usual," Snape sneered. "No subtlety."

He chuckled softly, derisively. "Dear me, if these are the standards for Aurors these days, you _are_ in trouble, aren't you?"

Snape paused, as if to savor the effect that his words had. He looked under the table and continued, "Of course, you've got Potter and he never misses the chance to show off, does he? You present the Dark Lord with the perfect target, Potter. I doubt he'll be able to hex your over inflated head, however. That might present a problem."

James detached himself from Lily's embrace to stand besides Sirius in a show of solidarity. "Yes, I did hear it might be difficult for Voldy…considering that he's a Squib."

"You dare besmirch his pure blood with such taunts?" a woman shrieked.

Bellatrix Lestrange moved from the Death Eater's ranks to stand next to Snape. She whipped out her wand and shouted, "_Cru_—"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Bella," said Snape lazily, and lowered her wand.

She glowered with anger.

"_Muffliatous_," came Lily's quiet whisper from besides Remus. "There, we can talk normally."

"What did you do?" asked Remus, noticing that he could no longer hear what was going on outside the table.

"It's a spell that I modified—"

Alice frowned. "I've never heard of it."

"Never mind that," said Lily impatiently. "Listen, we've got to do something before James and Sirius get themselves killed."

"They're distracting Snape so that we can act," said Frank calmly.

"Right, and we'd better start soon," said Remus hastily. "Lily, start marking Death Eaters. Make sure it glows in the dark."

"Pink or yellow?" she asked, giving him a cheeky smile.

"I don't care."

"Go for pink," said Frank.

"Peter, take out the lights on my command. Allison, can you manage Blinding Light Charms?"

"Considering that I'm no longer a fourth year, of course."

"Excellent," he said, ignoring her caustic tone. "Then Disapparate."

"You want me to leave the fight?" she asked, sounding incredulous.

"Well, you're not much of a fighter, are you?" Remus reasoned.

"I can duel, of course."

"Ally, leave it," said Peter. He leaned over and kissed her soundly on the mouth. "I can't get married without a bride."

"A marriage is useless without a groom, of course," she pointed out. "Be _careful_, Peter."

"I will be."

"Alice, explode everything in sight without taking down the building."

She grinned wickedly; demolitions were her favorite. "Anything off limits?"

"Go wild. Frank, are you up for some first-year Levitating Charms?"

"Sure. I can always muster up a Wingardium Leviosa." Frank grinned as well. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If by that you mean using furniture to take out Death Eaters, then yes."

"_Sweet_."

"What'll you do?" asked Lily.

Remus reached into his pocket and took out the Pain Relieving Potion. He drank it down and set aside the empty bottle. "Did you finish?"

"Yes. Remus, what are you going to do?"

He didn't answer.

"Remus?" she pressed, sounding alarmed. "You're not going to do something outrageously stupid, are you?"

"Signal's 'now'," he said, not looking at her. "Can you take down that spell?"

"Not before you tell me what you're going to do."

"Do it, Lily."

The urgency in his voice must have convinced her, for she took it down with a reluctant and worried air. "What will you do?"

"I'm going to do something outrageously stupid and get myself Cruciated."

He ignored the alarmed murmurs and crawled out from under the table to take his rightful place on James' other side, directly facing Bellatrix.

"I see the werewolf has seen fit to grace us with his presence," said Snape.

"Voldemort," Remus began pleasantly, looking Bellatrix directly in the eye. "Is nothing more than a half-blood who tries to pass himself off as a pureblood. His father, Tom Riddle Sr.? A Muggleborn."

The sight of Bellatrix's face infuriated face made a swell of irrational pride bloom in his chest, even knowing what was coming next.

"_CRUCIO!_"

There was nothing like the Cruciatus Curse, thought Remus, falling to the ground in pain that was almost as good as one's whole body being shoved into an oven and then stuck into a freezing cold snowdrift. It had nothing on transformations though, and he clung to this sane thought as he writhed silently on the floor. The Pain Relieving Potion had helped; bringing the level down to something that was almost manageable.

Key word being almost.

As the pain continued, his thoughts began to run away from him, dissolving his orderly complex sentences into a non-linear progression that he barely understood: encouragement to himself. Little things that helped Remus keep a hold on his sanity.

Keep going, don't think about it. Something he should do? There was only the pain squeezing his body, and hadn't there always been the pain? Name, what was his name? Lupin. Remus. John. RJL. If you say it fast it sounds like jello. Red squiggles in the plastic cup like fire. Had a friend with fire for hair. She was pretty. Nice.

Sound reached him, half heard snatches that he wasn't sure were even real.

"When…he…signal…"

A fishhook tugged at the edge of his consciousness, and the recent memory flooded him.

"Now!" Remus gasped out, as loud as he could.

The lights went out for the second time that night.

The pain stopped.

Remus lay on his back like an incapacitated turtle, surfing the line between light and darkness, barely noticing the chaos that had erupted around him. Instead, he focused on ignoring the burning sensation that penetrated his bones, making it too painful to even breathe. As he was rediscovering for his own personal pleasure, Cruciatus fried nerve endings like they were flour battered chicken, driving pain receptors screaming for the hills.

He could only vaguely contemplate getting up. It was enough, in this moment, to have a firm grasp on his sanity, and a rather tenuous hold on consciousness. But as he was slowly becoming aware of, he would have to move sooner or later, if only to escape the chilling screams that froze the air around him.

Oh, god. The screams.

Some spanned octaves and preformed a crescendo, growing louder and more high pitched as seconds ticked away. Others begged and pleaded in voices that broke under the strain, for their torturer to end it now, please, I can't take it anymore.

And cruel voices would comply with pleasure.

"_Avada Kedavra_."

The small part of Remus' brain that was not dedicated to dealing with pain raged against this brutality, desiring nothing more than to go over and rip the Death Eaters to shreds. Unfortunately, this part did not control his limbs in any way, and he remained where he was, trying to gather strength so that he _could_ kill Death Eaters.

Again, the restaurant shook with the force of an explosion, and a woman's hysterical shouts threaded through the overwhelming noise.

"Sarah! Sarah! Where are you?"

"Mummy! Mummy!"

Wails.

There were quick, hurried crunching noises by his head, and Remus vainly tried to force open his eyelids. If he could just see, maybe he could get off a non-verbal _and_ a wandless Stunner.

Yeah, and maybe dragons could swim.

Complex incantations were difficult to do without a wand and a voice, but the Disarming Spell was good enough to surprise a potential attacker long enough for Remus to try and Apparate. And if that failed…well, best not to think about that, he told himself, counting the beats as the person drew closer.

Three. Focus on your target.

Two. Feel their presence.

One. Fire.

Expelliarmus! He thought firmly, and was rewarded with a feminine shriek.

"Merlin!" the unknown witch exclaimed. She had a vaguely familiar voice. "_Accio_ wand."

He felt her kneel next to him and slender hands tentatively poked his arm.

"Remus! Wake up!"

This time, he was successful in wrenching open his eyes, and he blinked up at the young woman bending over him, the shock of pink hair visible even in the patch darkness.

_Tonks_? He opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but all that came out was a garbled mixture of vowels and consonants.

"Oh, thank Merlin," she said, sounding relieved. "I thought that I was going have to carry you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, voice still sounding like he was talking around a mouthful of gravel.

"What? I'm sorry, I can't understand you." Tonks bent closer.

He cleared his throat. "How do I know it's really you?"

"Sir, we really don't have time for that," she replied, instinctively falling back into her former ways of addressing him. "We need to get out of here. I think the roof might collapse soon."

Determined, Remus asked, "Are you Frank's AIT?"

"No, sir. James and Sirius are my mentors," she said proudly and then checked herself, suddenly suspicious. "Hang on a minute…"

"Good enough for me," he replied, struggling to sit up. "Thanks for the help."

"Can't take all the credit for the rescue mission, sir. Professor—Er, Lily, rather, gave my marching orders. She said I was supposed to take you someplace safe and watch over you until she came and got you."

"You're my guard dragon?" Remus surmised, now kneeling on the blood soaked carpet as he drew his wand in preparation. Slowly, he got to his feet, briefly closing his eyes against the brief wave of dizziness that assaulted him. "Am I incapable of defending myself now?"

"In her defense, sir, you looked dead."

"Thanks for the compliment," Remus replied dryly, and took a step forward, ignoring her proffered arm.

Pink flashed at the corner of his eye, and he turned instinctively, bringing his wrist back to flick a hex at the Death Eater who was barreling closer with each heavy step.

"_Impedimenta!_"

The massive Death Eater stopped dead in his tracks and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a large thud. Overhead, the chandeliers merrily chimed a warning.

"Time to go," Remus said, grabbing Tonks' arm and sprinting for the exit, all lingering effects of the Cruciatus Curse temporarily melting away in the presence of so much adrenaline.

As soon as they burst through the double doors, it happened. With a heavy groan, the restaurant surrendered, its unstable walls crumbling after being bombarded with expensive mahogany tables and misfired spells. Plaster molding and crystal buried those unfortunate enough to be stuck inside. The force of the blast caused Tonks to be knocked off her feet and she landed on top of Remus, sprawling uncomfortably into his back. His face pressed into the cobblestones.

Tonks groaned. "Merlin…"

Remus made a muffled protest from underneath her.

"Oh, I forgot! I'm so sorry, Remus," she said immediately, rolling off of him and onto the street. Her eyes widened as they caught sight of his face. "You're bleeding!"

He sat up, gingerly touching the fresh cut on his cheek. "So I am. We don't have time to worry about that now, though."

Tonks hurriedly stood up. "We have to rescue those people inside."

"No."

"What do you mean, no? They might be dying!"

"If you want to make a rescue attempt with Death Eaters firing curses at you, be my guest," he said evenly, getting to his feet.

"Won't the Death Eaters want to get their own fellows out of there?"

Remus scoffed. "Doesn't mean they'll work with us to do so. They see an opening, they'll take it, same as any one of us would."

"I wouldn't," she said a little defiantly.

"Then you would be a fool," he retorted. "They're going to hunt us down when they have the chance."

"Me too?" Tonks said, her voice squeaking a little.

"Yes. I daresay that Bellatrix would love to get her hands on her half-blood cousin."

"You know…?"

"Sirius is my friend," he reminded her.

The whip like crack of a Coulomb Curse suddenly snapped through the air, and blue rays of energy surged toward them.

"_Corpofides_," said Remus calmly.

A thin misty yellow bubble appeared around them, and Tonks watched, fascinated, as it absorbed the blue curse, rippling a little from the shock wave.

"What was that?" she marveled, barely taking the time to notice that Remus had grabbed her by the arm and was quickly taking them across the street.

"Advanced Body Shield," he replied curtly, ducking into the narrow alley that he had Apparated into earlier. "I'm going to erect a couple of wards. You're going to stay here Disillusioned, and you are not going to move. Understand?"

"What? No. I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on _you_!"

"That was when you thought I was dead," Remus replied. "Now don't bother me, or these wards might end up killing you instead of saving you. My friends and I are meeting here in—" he checked his watch. "—approximately twenty minutes. Only we should be able to get through these wards."

"Should?"

"Yes," he said impatiently. "Ward magic is not precise, and I can't possibly protect you against every curse out there. It'll stop any Death Eater that tries to breach the wards, that's for sure."

"Even Bellatrix?"

"Most likely," Remus said with a nonchalant shrug.

"_Most likely_? It seems to me that they aren't going to protect me from much of anything. I think I'd be better off coming with you."

"No."

"Listen, I'm in Auror training, _and_ I got an O on my Defense N.E.W.T.S."

"I remember," said Remus dryly. "But that doesn't qualify you to duel with Death Eaters."

"I need the practice."

"I'm not going to argue about this."

In a blink of an eye, she was trussed from foot to toe in rope, courtesy of Remus' quick wand skills and a non-verbal _Incarcerous_.

"That's hardly fair!"

He closed his eyes and ignored her protests. "_Moenia tueor lacertus aniaeom eortu sutceral—_"

"_Frendido parietis!"_ Tonks cried suddenly, and Remus' eyes flew open.

He quickly turned around to confront his attacker, only to see a brick wall instead.

Sticking out from underneath it was a man's torso and legs.

Remus halted his chanting, suitably impressed. Combining the act of a conjure with the force of a curse was difficult spellwork and it was something that he had not been able to master until he was a year or so older than she was. He had only recently thought of teaching it to his friends.

"Nice work. Where did you lean how to do that?"

Tonks was struck momentarily speechless, and paused in her tracks, staring back at the limp form of the man that she had attacked.

"James taught me. Is he…dead?"

"If we're lucky."

She transferred her shocked gaze to him, which Remus met with steady understanding.

"Your first death, I take it."

"Yes," she admitted.

"Push it to the back of your mind," he advised. "It'll do you no good to fall apart here."

Her eyes flickered to the corpse on the ground, watching the blood and intestines bubble up from the crushed torso with a revolted expression on her face.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she murmured in response, and turned her head to vomit.

"You'll be fine," Remus said, his head turned to give her the illusion of privacy. "Just don't think about it."

"Easy for you to say," Tonks muttered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm sure you've killed before lots of times."

"It's a necessity of war," said Remus curtly. "I don't regret it."

The unspoken implication was _and you shouldn't either._

Tonks exhaled sharply, raised her head and said, "Sir, one way or another, I am going to fight those Death Eaters—with or without you. Charlie is in the Order, and he's the same age I am. _And _he doesn't have the training that I have. "

"Fine," Remus agreed finally, canceling the wards with a quick slash of his wand. He recognized a lost cause when he saw one. "But stay close to me. And try not to get yourself killed."

"Right," she said, sounding a little faint.

"Use as many non verbal spells as you can. What lethal curses do you know?"

Tonks swallowed hard. "That Brick Wall one, obviously, Neck Breaking Hex, Blood Curdling Curse…"

"Good. Stick to the ones you know well. Proper protocol for a Stunner?"

"Three at a time."

"All right. Let's go."

Remus stepped out from the sanctuary of the alley first, Tonks following closely behind him. He held his wand out in front of him, noting that there seemed to be a conspicuous lack of Death Eaters, which was worrisome. Black ash fell softly from the sky, speckling his skin and irritating his eyes. He cupped his hand around his brow, squinting into what had become a decidedly smoky battlefield.

A curse brushed past his check and Remus dove to the right, taking cover behind a large chunk of Soleil's brick roof. He landed hard, air leaving him momentarily. From a block away, the staccato sizzle and pop of hexes, cures and jinxes echoed throughout the broad street. Tonks scrambled next to him, looking strangely exhilarated.

"I think I got him," she said, pleased with herself. "Used a non-verbal and everything."

"_Confringo!_"

Their barrier was blasted into smithereens, and Remus stood, sending a Hurling Hex to the Death Eater that was quickly advancing. He was sent sailing into what remained of Soleil and landed with a sickening crunch.

"_That_, is 'getting' a Death Eater," said Remus matter-of-factly, "Assume nothing."

"I'll remember that for next time," she said, allowing him to help her up.

"Keep making mistakes like that, and there might not _be _a next time," he said sharply, intending to scare her.

Tonks merely nodded, seeming unfazed. "Right. Where to, sir?"

"That way," said Remus, pointing down the street, where spells could be seen lighting up the murky air. He began to ran, keeping himself as close to the buildings as possible, turning his head back every once and a while to see how his newfound protégée was holding up.

Tonks was hot on his heels; even in her skintight midnight blue robes that looked as though movement should be impossible. But she was wobbly, and Remus realized that she was still wearing heels. He stopped.

She gave him a confused look. "Why are we…?"

Instead of explaining, Remus simply transfigured her shoes, turning them into sturdy trainers that could withstand the tests of battle.

"You're no good if you break your neck," Remus said, and picked up the pace again.

This time, she ran at his side, easily keeping up. Soon, they came to an intersection, where most of the fight seemed to be centered. Remus inched up to the very corner of the building nearest to them, and flattened himself against the wall, motioning for Tonks to follow suit. A white flash of light streaked past them, promptly creating a large, smoking crate in the middle of the street.

There was no screaming here; apparently, the Death Eaters had either taken their victims elsewhere, or the Wizarding patrons had Apparated. Remus suspected the latter. Most raids on Muggle-born restaurants involved burning down businesses, and harassing the owners and patrons. They wanted to create fear. And to do that, they needed witnesses.

It was only the chance appearance of the engagement party that had pushed the "routine business" into a full-fledged skirmish. _We're not here to capture anyone_, Remus reminded himself. _We're here to stop the raid. _Past experience dictated that if enough noses were bloodied, that would be discouragement enough to stop an attack.

A curse struck the awning above them, lighting it ablaze. Remus absently put it out with an _Aguamenti_, his attention focused instead on formulating a plan. He didn't know how many Death Eaters were out there, and this lack of intelligence disturbed him. Tonks, uncomfortable with just standing around, began to fidget with her wand.

"Shouldn't we…do something?" she said uneasily.

"We need a plan first," said Remus. "Unless you'd rather just charge out there, wand a blazing…"

"All right, you've made your point," she grumbled. "But you could include me in the plan. I _am_ your partner."

Remus privately thought she was more of a liability than anything, but decided it was best not to mention this out loud.

"How long can you keep up a Shield Charm?" he said instead.

"All damn day, sir."

"Good. How many can you maintain at one time?"

"Six," Tonks said casually, aware that this was impressive. "But," she added hastily, "I'm strongest with four."

"Four it is, then. And no matter what they throw at you, I want you to hold them."

Tonks nodded, and then conjured four blue, pulsing Absorbing Shield Charms.

"Maneuver them around us like a wall," Remus directed, pulling her closer to him so that their shoulders touched. "You've got to move with me, now. Be my shadow. All my attention is going to be focused on taking out the Death Eaters; I'm not going to even think about defending myself. That's all you. Do you understand how important that is?"

"Yes," said Tonks solemnly.

"I have a lot of faith in you."

"Really?"

"No, I just said it because it sounds good." Remus grinned slightly. "I'm kidding. But seriously, I'm trusting you with my life. I think that speaks for itself. Now let's go."

They rounded the corner.

Instantly, a deluge of hexes, jinxes and curses came at them, the bleeding sky briefly alight with spellwork.

In a testament to the powers of mental concentration, Remus blocked them out, leaving his partner to deal with the problem. Instead, he searched for the flamboyant pink 'x's of Lily's handiwork, which clearly marked friend from foe and thankfully prevented any incidents of friendly fire from occurring. From what he could tell, there were four Death Eaters in front of him, all of which kept constantly moving, a tell of experienced duelers.

But Remus was not one of the best fighters in the Order for nothing. Only Dumbledore and Moody had quicker reaction times than him; the former because he had decades of practice, and the later because he was consumed by paranoia. While Remus was not an extremely powerful wizard like James, he did have something the other man did not: a desire to practice until he was perfect and pure, natural talent. Of course, a keen eye for strategy, and an iron memory for obscure and effective curses helped, too.

He decided to test the waters by sending a couple of Stunners to gauge the reactions as the Death Eaters either dodged or put up shields. The rotund figure on his right seemed to be the most sluggish, and Remus aimed his wand, whipping a Jelly-Legs Jinx and an Incinerating Curse in quick succession. The Death Eater dodged the jinx, but got hit with the full force of the curse, bursting into flames as hot fiery tendons wrapped themselves around her entire body. An agonizing scream split the night air, causing the other Death Eaters to pause to try to put her out.

Remus took advantage of the distraction and cornered the rest with a Corral Jinx, a useful little trick that stuck its victims to the spot they were standing in and prevented them from Disapparating. Of course, they were still able to fire spells through the jinx, but at least they couldn't leave anymore. He Silenced the group, and was about to Disarm the lot, when Tonks suddenly and inexplicably picked the moment to take down the Shield Charms.

"No!" Remus shouted, hastily conjuring a Shield himself as Death Eaters retaliated vigorously.

One of these curses struck Tonks in the head, and she promptly began giggling, doubling over in a sudden fit of laughter.

"Look…look…look at all the pretty lights!" she said, tugging at his sleeve.

"_Accio wands!_" exclaimed Remus, pulling away from her. He took the three wands firmly in his hands and snapped them over his knee, letting the pieces fall to the ground.

"Oh no!" Tonks said, horrified. "You broke those branches!"

Remus swore. "What did they hit you with?"

"Who hit me?" She widened her eyes comically. "Did someone hit me? I didn't notice."

"Come on," Remus said, grabbing Tonks by the arm and began to drag her in the direction that they had come from.

She swiveled her head around like an owl, and tried to pull against him, going so far as to dig her heels in. "No, I don't want to! I want to go back to the pretty lights!"

Remus doggedly continued forward with Tonks, who had now become a definite liability. There was no use trying to fight when his partner was in this condition: hit by a Confundus Charm or something worse. Besides, their thirty minutes were almost up, and he was finally starting to feel the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. Adrenaline only lasted so long, and he had pushed himself far beyond his normal post-transformation limits. The result was now a bone deep fatigue that had Remus fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Remus!"

At the sound of his name, he snapped his head up and pointed his wand at Lily, who was heading toward them. She looked as exhausted as he felt, and much worse for the wear. Her left cheek was red and blistered—the tell tale mark of a Burning Hex—and she smelled like roasted meat. There was a large, smoking hole in shoulder of her dress robes, and blood seeped out from the wounded area.

As much as Remus wanted to check over her injures, he held himself in check, all too aware that she could be a Polyjuiced Death Eater or under the Imperius Curse. Confusion was often bred during battle, and an intelligent Death Eater would not be beyond taking advantage of this. He decided to cut straight to the point and ask her about one of their most private conversations.

"What happened when you found out I was a werewolf?"

"I cried," Lily said simply, her pretty mouth twisting downward in disapproval of her silly twelve-year old self. "What did you tell me on my wedding day?"

"That no one would ever be prettier than you," he said softly.

Lily smiled. "You were so sweet, Remus."

"Thank you," he said dryly. "Every man wants to hear that he's 'sweet'."

"I wouldn't say if it wasn't true. Now, I need to ask you two very important questions: why are you fighting with Tonks and have you seen James?"

"Tonks is my partner. And no, I haven't."

"_Damnit_," said Lily vehemently. "I can't believe this. I turn my back for one bloody second, and he's gone!"

Remus' lips twitched with an ironic smile. "Did he Apparate?"

"Don't be a smart arse," she snapped immediately.

"He's probably back at the Apparition Point," said Remus reasonably. "And we should be getting there, too. Here, help with me with Tonks."

Lily grabbed a hold of the younger woman's arm, and together, they started to run back toward the narrow alley where the entire evening had commenced.

"Too fast," Remus panted, breathing hard. The ground began to weave in front of him, and bright stars appeared in the center of his vision. "I…can't breathe."

Lily slowed marginally, but it was still a punishing pace, and Remus found himself struggling to keep up to the point where Tonks was now dragging _him_ along instead of the other way around. He was never so happy when they reached the entrance to the alley, and immediately sank down on the ground, far beyond caring about rats and garbage. Lily deposited Tonks onto a splintered wooden box a few feet away and began to draw wards around the area.

Her quiet chanting was soothing, and Remus watched with half-closed eyes as dark purple strands of lights weaved their way between the two buildings. They faded just as soon as she created them, creating an invisible and dangerous web of protection.

"That should hold," Lily said, satisfied. "What do you think?"

"I suppose. To be honest, I didn't pay attention." He tilted his head back against the grimy walls and closed his eyes fully. "Wake me up if something happens."

Lily conjured a wooden stool and sat down on it across from Remus, her face creased pensively. She pulled her hair free of its confining chignon, and ran her fingers through the tangled strands as she began to wind her hair into a braid. They remained quiet for a few minutes; the only sound was Tonks' off-key humming of an old Weird Sister's song and the far away sounds of Death Eater revels as they tortured another defenseless victim.

"What happened to Tonks?" asked Lily suddenly.

"Probably a Confundus."

"Did _you_ get hit at all?"

"No," said Remus irritably. She was preventing him from falling asleep. "Can you please stop with the questions? I'm very tired and—"

"Stop!" Lily exclaimed, cutting him off.

Remus opened his eyes, confused, only to realize that she wasn't talking to him. He turned his head to see Sirius frozen in front of the warded entrance, Peter floating in a stretcher by Sirius' side. Blood spattered the collar of Sirius' robes, and he gave them a strained smile.

"Well, don't you lot look comfortable."

"Question," ordered Lily austerely, pointing her wand in their general direction.

"What happened when Remus and I babysat Harry for the first time?"

"You turned me into a baboon," said Remus, rolling his eyes at Sirius' smirk. "What prank did we pull on McGonagall on our last day of school?"

"Filled her office with catnip and locked her in," Sirius replied.

He waited until Lily removed the wards to set Peter's stretcher to the ground. Remus immediately knelt over his friend to try and revive him.

"It's no use," said Sirius. "We'll have to wait until Mungo's."

"What happened?" asked Remus, while Lily was replacing the wards.

"We thought it'd be a good idea to rescue some of those Muggles in the shops. Got caught in an ambush as we were coming out. Pete caught a couple of Stunners before either of us could put up a Shield." Sirius peeled his collar away from his skin and gingerly probed the bloody area. "_Fuck_, that hurts."

"I don't suggest touching it then," said Remus dryly.

"Thank you, Moony, for that wonderful bit of advice. Where's James?"

"We're not sure," said Lily, nibbling at her bottom lip. "We were hoping that he was with _you_."

Sirius shook his head. "Haven't seen him since it all started. Where are Alice and Frank?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, hell, we can't wait forever."

"We don't leave people behind," said Lily sharply.

"But the Death Eaters—"

"I warded the place," she retorted loudly in a tone that invited no argument.

"Christ, your naivety scares me."

"It's called faith," snapped Lily. "You should try it sometime."

"How long do you think those wards can hold under a severe onslaught? Five minutes, maybe? Ten at the most."

"Gives us enough time to Apparate," Lily countered swiftly.

"Didn't you want to wait for them?" Sirius reminded her.

"Well, what do _you_ propose we do?" asked Remus tiredly. "Just leave without them?"

"Yes," replied Sires promptly.

Lily's eyes flushed with anger. "How could you abandon them like that?"

"Tactical withdrawal," Sirius corrected.

"It's cowardice," she spat.

"James would do the same thing in my position."

"No he would not," said Lily hotly, her words pointed and sharp.

"You're not an Auror, you don't understand," Sirius said with an elegant and dismissive wave of his hand. "We're trained, if an op goes badly, to walk away, even if our partner is hurt…or dead."

Lily stiffened and hissed, "Shut up Sirius."

"I'm being realistic!" Sirius shouted. "There are some times that you just have to cut your losses and—"

"He is your friend!" Lily shouted back passionately. "And he is my husband! And I will stay here all fucking night if I have to! But I am not leaving without him!"

Sirius looked down at Remus. "Moony, you must understand…"

"No," said Remus coldly. "Please. Enlighten me."

Sirius fidgeted under the cold weight of his friend's glacial expression. "We'll die if we wait here. You know that. Lily knows that, even if she's too stubborn to admit it. James is a smart bloke, he's trained for these kinds of situations…"

"His best friend leaving him behind?" Lily said in a frigid tone. "No, I don't think he ever trained for that."

"Do you hear that?" said Remus abruptly, frowning.

Sirius and Lily both froze, and the three of them sat in silence, trying to listen.

"I don't hear anything," said Sirius impatiently after a couple of minutes had passed.

"Quiet," Lily snapped, her head cocked toward the entrance. "I think I do."

"Voices," said Remus. "Someone's coming."

The argument had masked their approach, allowing Remus, Lily and Sirius very little time to prepare. It was impossible to tell whether the people were friends or foes. They were far enough away that he could hear them, but not yet close enough to distinguish identity or even gender. It could be Alice, Frank and James, or it could be the Carrows; but they needed to act as though a Death Eater attack were imminent.

"We need a plan," said Lily crisply.

"Apparate," said Sirius immediately. "We can't hold Death Eaters with only four people."

"Three," Remus corrected quietly. "Tonks can't fight."

He grasped one of the uneven bricks on the wall and pulled himself up, leaning against it for support.

"You're talking about suicide," Sirius ground out.

"It's our only option," said Remus tightly, meeting Sirius' edgy expression with a calm and steady bravado that he did not feel. "Are you with us or against us?"

The voices grew louder, and Sirius shook his head in a hopeless sort of way.

"Do you even need to ask that question?"

"I wish I didn't have to," said Remus ruefully.

"I'm with you," said Sirius firmly. "_Both_ of you."

Lily acknowledged him with a smug little smile. "What are we going to do?"

"Hit them with a Full Body-Bind Curse," suggested Remus. He let go of the wall and craned his neck around the corner of the building, trying to see the people coming towards them.

"How many?" asked Lily, who was standing guard over both Tonks and Peter.

"Can't really see," was his reply as Sirius took up position on his left side. "We'll just have to wing it. Count of three, Padfoot? One…two…three…"

Their curses lit up the burgeoning darkness, and their opponents swiftly sent a few spells of their own in response. Glittering tendrils of blue light flashed like lightening as the wards absorbed the attack.

"Nice warding job," said Sirius stiffly.

"Thank you," said Lily, just as polite.

"When the wards fall—"

She gave a meaningful throat clear.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Excuse me—_if_ the wards fall, we're going to need a plan of attack."

"Who says it's not James, Alice, or Frank?" said Lily acerbically.

"And if it's not?" snapped Sirius. "I'd rather not be a sitting duck, thank you very much.'

"There's no harm in being prepared, Lily," said Remus wearily.

"I suppose we can Apparate," she said grudgingly. "Happy?"

Sirius smiled smugly. "Like a pig in mud."

"You are a pig."

"We'd better move," said Remus, taking no notice of the snippy exchange. "I think they've figured out that we didn't ward the buildings themselves."

As if to emphasize his point, a large chunk of roof landed a few feet away from them with a deafening bang. Immediately, Sirius and Lily snapped into action, all anger swept under the rug until they could deal with their issues at the appropriate time. Lily pointed her wand at the sky, and began to mutter incantations under her breath while Sirius crept closer to the entrance for retaliation.

Meanwhile, Remus had taken it upon himself to send a message to the Longbottoms, desperately hoping that they were the attackers. He closed his eyes and summoned up the happiest memory he could think of: the time he and his friends had plastered the Great Hall with banana cream pies. Focusing on the indescribable joy that had flared inside his chest at the sight of McGonagall's furious face, he cast three Patronus Charms, the silvery penguins sliding out of his wand and hovering in front of him as they waited to do his bidding.

"This is Remus Lupin. I'm with Sirius, Lily and others in the alley where we promised to meet. If it is you attacking us, stop immediately."

His Patronuses swam through the air, darting gracefully around Sirius' hexes to disappear around the corner. Remus watched them go with a feeling of relief, and was about to join the fight when he was suddenly overcome by a wave of dizziness that shook him to his core. Brightly coloured stars burst in front of his eyes, and he groped blindly for the wall, desperately hoping for some support. Each missed grab threw him a little more off balance, and his legs, already shaky to begin with, couldn't support his weight any longer. They buckled underneath him, pitching Remus forward in a slow descent to earth.

He was unconscious before he hit the ground.


	7. Heads and Tails

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

**A/N: **Wow….erm…I don't know what to tell you guys other than *sorry*. I don't know if anyone is still interested in reading this, or if you've been following this at all, but I want to apologise to people who were loyally reading it. I know how much it sucks when authors don't update continuously.

Here's what happened: I lost motivation for this story, and started working on other projects, mostly original. I also feel like it's time to find a greener fandom. I've loved the HP fandom for much of my fanfic career, hell most of my childhood, but I think I should let sleeping dogs lie.

**Tl:dr;** On the bright side, it's been two years, so I'm a much better writer than when I started this so long ago. On the dark side, it's been Two Years.

* * *

_You've been howling at the moon like a slack jaw fool_

_And breaking every rule they can throw on_

_But one of these days it's gonna be right soon_

_You'll find your legs and go and stay gone_

**-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX**

_Thursday, August, 1991_

_Three Days Later_

Remus came to with a horrible headache, a blurry, dark room and the sounds of two people going at each other's throats.

He watched fuzzily as Lily stood in front of the bed next to his, arms akimbo, soundly berating a man who was trying his best not to look cowed and utterly failing.

"He's injured!" she shouted, pointing a finger threateningly. "And if you had any sense at all, you'd slink back to that office of yours and leave us in peace and quiet."

"Mrs. Potter—"

"That's Professor Potter," Lily said icily. "They don't call me a Potions Mistress for laughs, Dawlish."

"We need to get a proper account of the fight."

"You have mine. Sirius'. Alice's. Frank's. Peter's. Now leave my husband alone."

"I'll talk to Lupin, then."

Lily's heels clicked dangerously across the floor and Remus quickly shut his eyes.

"You won't be talking to either of them unless I approve it," Lily snapped, and he imagined the ire flashing in her green eyes, protective instincts out in grand style.

The heavy footsteps of John Dawlish traipsed to the exit, and Remus opened his eyes, watching a blurry Lily sink into a chintz armchair by his head.

"Brilliant, Lily," Remus complimented, hoarsely. He tried smiling, but it pulled at the cut on his face.

"You're awake!" Lily fairly beamed. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to hear you give Dawlish a tongue lashing he'll never forget," Remus said, clearing his throat. "Probably warning the others about you."

"He'd better," Lily muttered, pouring him a glass of water. "Drink that. You sound like you've been snogging sandpaper."

"Such compliments," murmured Remus, drinking the water down nevertheless. He looked to his right, at James' slack face. "What happened to James?"

"Alice and Frank found him and brought him in," Lily said quietly, her fingers twisting the fabric of her royal blue robes. "He's been unconscious for the past three days."

Remus slopped water down his front. "_Three days_?"

"It's August 2nd," Lily replied, looking bewildered at his reaction.

"Three days," Remus said numbly.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"The full moon...no...no.." Remus closed his eyes. "Being at the restaurant. Being Crucioed."

Lily winced. "Yes."

"There was a battle..." He sagged back onto the pillows wearily, rubbing his hand across his forehead. "And we were in the alley. That's it. That's all I remember."

"You were very ill," said Lily, patting his hand. "The after-effects of the full moon combined with the battle sapped your reserves of magical energy."

Remus opened his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"That you shouldn't be casting anything more taxing than _Wingardium Leviosa_ at least until the school year starts," came the strident voice of a Healer.

The dark haired wizard strode into the room, green robes flapping authoritatively behind him. "Well, there, Mr. Lupin, joining the living, I see?"

"Healer Boot, always a pleasure," Remus croaked.

Lily poured him another glass of water.

Riley Boot eyed Remus critically as he waved his wand over Remus' body. "You've been in and out for the past three days, with periods of lucidity being few and far in between."

"There are some gaps in his memory," Lily said immediately, leaning forward. "He doesn't remember any of it."

_Traitor_, Remus thought. He pulled his hand away from hers.

"I'm not surprised," Boot said, Summoning a roll of parchment and scribbling at it furiously. "That's a side effect of the potions we gave him."

"What happened exactly?"

"It's called magical exhaustion," Boot said in clipped, precise tones. "You see, every time you transform, your reserves of magical energy are depleted. That's why you feel fatigued for several days after a full moon."

_And pain._ _Lots of pain_.

He looked at Remus to make sure he was following.

Remus gave a little nod. "Go on."

"As you might know, the Cruciatus Curse also depletes the victim's magical energy. The side effect, is, of course, pain."

"Yes," Remus murmured, biting back the instinct to remind Boot just exactly what his patient specialized in.

"Combining the two of these events within such a short period of time, as you did, can cause your magical energy levels to sink below a certain point, causing headaches, weakness, dizziness, blackouts. Unfortunately, we can only treat the symptoms; the real cure is time and rest."

"How long will it take to recover?" Remus said, fighting the urge to panic.

_Living as a Muggle wouldn't be bad, but I'll be useless to the Order. They need me on the front lines. I can't be out of commission for more than a week. Transformations interrupt operations as it is._

"You'll regain your energy within the next couple of days, but the symptoms will last for a couple of weeks. In these cases, maintaining homeostasis is a real concern. We don't advise doing any heavy spells until at least two weeks after the incident."

"Heavy spells such as..." Remus let himself trail off.

"Not even Apparation," Boot said sharply. "And you're certainly not to fight Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?" Remus said blandly. He looked over at Lily, who was wearing a similar, but less convincing innocent expression. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a teacher, Healer Boot."

"I hope you're more than that," Boot said, lowering his voice. He looked around and drew the curtains around Remus' bed.

Lily took his cue and cast a _Muffilato_ around the area.

Boot dug his hands into the pockets of his robes. "My nephew's going to Hogwarts year, Lupin. You'll keep him safe, won't you?"

Remus and Lily exchanged glances.

"We'll do our best," Remus said, knowing that lately, his best wasn't much of a guarantee.

"Terry's a good kid," Boot said. A pained grimace passed across his face. "I've done my best to raise him right...but he needs his parents."

Boot shook his head, mouth set in a stern line. "And the worst part of it is that the bastards who did it are allowed to walk around like they did nothing wrong."

"Who?" asked Lily.

"Barty Crouch and Regulus Black."

* * *

Regulus felt the burning of the Mark beneath the heavy silk of his dress robes. He rubbed at it absently, struggling to keep his disinterested face on, when all he really wanted to do was Apparate away to ease the burning.

"What say you, Mr. Black?" asked Lyle Huling, the portly fellow with whom he was dining.

Regulus raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't the faintest idea what the other man had been saying, but he wasn't about to admit that to Huling. So, Regulus would fall back on his old, tried and true methods: insults.

He yawned extravagantly. "Finally come to your point, did you? I feel asleep somewhere around the third paragraph of your monologue."

Lyle flushed, as snickers erupted around the table. "Now see here, Black, I'm tired of you constantly shirking your responsibility—"

"I have no responsibility to listen to your ceaseless prattle, Huling," Regulus snapped, standing up.

If he was going to leave, he might as well make it look good.

"In fact, I have no responsibility to be here at all. Ta."

And Regulus walked out of the meeting to his boss' utter surprise, only to go to a staff meeting of another kind.

He Apparated in a cemetery, popping among the tombstones with a loud crack.

He was not the last one to arrive, nor the first, which pleased him. Standing out meant getting singled out, and he would rather be a 'loyal', rank and file Death Eater than suffer the Dark Lord's mercurial wrath by being a chosen favourite.

Regulus made point of staying clear of Snape, who was a talented Legilmens and the other mental threat besides Voldemort. Regulus himself was an accomplished Occulmens—managing to keep Voldemort unaware of his true identity for the past decade was no small feat.

He acknowledged Bellatrix, but did not approach, not in the mood for cryptic, insane exchanges. He remained very fortunate that she did not have the patience nor aptitude for the subtleties of Occulmency—the idea of letting his lunatic cousin ravage through his mind was enough to make him shudder.

And Blacks didn't shudder. It was unseemly.

Andrew Nott caught his eye, and Regulus headed in that direction, only to stop short as he caught sight of the Carrow siblings. But Nott gave a little wave—deep enthusiasm for Drew—and so Regulus kept going, steeling himself for a confrontation.

"It's ickle Reggie," one of them said, voice raising horridly in a taunt.

"Fuck off," Regulus said, whipping out his wand and holding at the Carrow's throat. "I don't need a reason, Alecto. The Dark Lord won't miss you—in fact, he might even _thank_ me for ridding him of a buffoon like yourself."

Nott smirked. "Temper, Regulus."

"Remind me, Drew, what we do to bugs that don't behave?" Regulus grinned savagely, all of his frustration coming out.

"I think we squash them."

"Too good," Regulus drawled. He twirled his wand idly. "I think I know exactly what to—"

"The Dark Lord," Nott said suddenly.

Regulus slid his wand back into his sleeve, and inclined his head in a subservient manner. The rest of the Death Eaters fell silent, gathering instinctively in a circle like the Druids of old.

Amid the whispering of black silk robes, Voldemort appeared in the middle of the circle with all the theatricality of a Muggle magician. Ruby eyes glared critically out from a face that had once handsome and was now twisted with evil.

He spread his arms out. "Welcome."


	8. The Iron Curtain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Recently discovered the rest of this story on my hard drive. And wow is it a monster.**

* * *

"My Lord," Regulus whispered with the rest.

"I am displeased with the news lately come to me," Voldemort said. "One wonders what it takes to defeat a group of Mudbloods and blood traitors. Severus."

Snape stepped forward. His eyes were trained on the ground. "My Lord—"

"Your task was to destroy Soleil. You succeeded." Voldemort paused, and Snape waited with bated breath to hear if he was to be condemned further. "And yet when you encountered Order resistance, you did not kill nor maim nor take prisoners. Why is that?"

"We were surprised by the ferocity of the attack," Snape replied, his eyes on the ground.

"Indeed." Voldemort waved a waxy hand and Snape stepped back into line. "Regulus, why were we not informed of this development?"

Regulus fixed his eyes on the bridge of Voldemort's nose. He had to choose his words carefully to avoid the Cruciatus curse Voldemort was itching to cast on him.

"The Order was unaware of the attack on Soleil, my Lord. I confess that it was a…coincidence that the engagement party happened there."

"Coincidence." Voldemort licked his lips, tasting Regulus' unease. "You know how I despise that word, Regulus."

"Yes, my Lord." He held himself rigid, waiting for the attack he knew would come.

"_Crucio._"

The curse was whispered, but that didn't make it any less horrific. Years of being in the Death Eaters had taught him to take a Cruciatus without any screaming. He sank to his knees, limbs twisting in absolute agony under the continuous onslaught. Regulus bit through his lip, and tasted fresh, coppery blood.

Voldemort let up the curse, bored perhaps, and turned his attention to his next employee. "Nott, do you have news on our Seer?'

Nott gave a curt bow. "We have been able to locate her, my Lord. She is in Brighton, hiding in a seaside cottage."

Voldemort's lips curled into a devious smile and he flicked his finger at Regulus. "Approach."

Limp as a newborn kitten, Regulus dragged himself to a standing position on trembling legs. Regrettably, there were mud stains on his nice black silk robes. He'd have to get them steam-cleaned at Mrs. Potts'.

He mentally prepared himself, shifting memories of tortured victims and Ministry paperwork to the front of his mind. Regulus pictured a steel box, placed his Order memores into it, and moved directly in front of Voldemort.

"Closer."

Regulus barely breathed as he stepped close enough to the Dark Lord to see the absence of pores on his snake-like skin.

"I want you to question the Seer and retrieve the prophecy. Bring Bellatrix."

"You don't want Bella to question the Seer?" Regulus asked, and then immediately regretted it.

Voldemort glowered. "If I had wanted Bella to do it, I would've said so. Bella?"

"Yes, my Lord?" She stepped forward, practically writhing with excitement. "What do you wish for me to do?"

"Go with your cousin and retrieve the prophecy from the Seer."

"Yes, my Lord."

Regulus backed up quickly, allowing Bella's hand to close vice-like over his arm. He inclined his head. "We will return shortly."

They turned and Disapparated.

* * *

Being a spy was really more like playing a never ending round of strip poker.

You winced every time it was your turn to go to bat, and prayed to God that today would not be the time that you would fuck up, that your poker face would be good enough to fool your fellow players.

Except consequences would be far worse than everyone seeing your goblin printed boxers—not that Regulus had any of those, even as a gag gift from his bloody brother.

And the stakes were far bigger than a pile of Galleons.

It was a miracle he had lasted this long, against everyone's expectations. They hadn't expected him to be completely for the movement, to go against the pureblood teachings of his parents. Naturally, it was expected of Sirius to join the minute he had gotten wind of Voldemort's intentions, idiotic Gryffindor that he was. But Regulus's involvement had been a bit of a shock to the die-hard proud blood traitors that filled the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix.

And he really didn't blame them; he had honestly shocked himself by asking Sirius how one went about fighting Voldemort.

No one had trusted Regulus the minute he had stepped into headquarters, the interested companion of an over the moon Sirius, who had been delighted that his baby brother had supposedly "saw the light". Paranoid glares and mutters followed in their wake as Sirius led Regulus to Albus Dumbledore, many convulsively grabbing at their wands as if Regulus was about to snap and hex the lot of them.

He sneered back, hurt and offended by the heavy suspicion on the white side of the fence.

What, did they think he was a spy for Voldemort?

Apparently, yes, they did.

In fact, Alastor Moody had gone so far as to snag him with a Body-Bind Curse, right as Regulus had courteously extended his hand to the venerable Hogwarts Headmaster.

Neither Dumbledore nor Regulus had been pleased about that.

He and Moody still did not get along to this day, even after Regulus had continually proved himself, time and time again. And if the suspicious gaze smarted a little every time he went to report his findings, so be it. He knew he was a spy for Dumbledore and not truly the Death Eater most of society assumed him to be. He had saved people's lives, damnit. That would have to be enough to placate his wounded ego.

A wailing shriek punctured his thoughts, and Regulus was rapidly pulled back to the present, and the wriggling, moaning woman on the ground. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she screamed loudly, her mouth dropping open like the cavernous opening of a black hole.

Bellatrix Lestrange tossed her dark, lustrous, shining hair back and let out a high girlish laugh.

"Crucio." Pause. "Crucio." Pause.

"Help me," the woman said weakly, and turned her attention to Regulus, whom she subconsciously seemed to recognize as an ally. "Please." She curled her fingers around the heavy, expensive black cloth of his Death Eater robes.

"Don't touch me, you stupid Mudblood," Regulus snapped and moved away, letting her collapse onto the ground.

Bellatrix watched this exchange closely and allowed her full red lips to form a satisfied smile.

"I think I should teach her a lesson," she said, dark eyes glittering, a hint of excitement lacing her words. "Crucio."

Regulus inwardly cringed at the painful drawn out screams, but gave a pleased smile at the woman's pain, waiting until he could carefully broach the subject of stopping the torture.

Bellatrix giggled nastily, as the woman went limp.

"You didn't kill her, did you?" Regulus said in a tone of bored casualness. He nudged her with the toe of his boot. "Wake up, bitch."

She stirred slightly, but her eyes remained closed, probably fearful of what would transpire if she did awaken.

"I'll wake her up," replied Bellatrix eagerly, and twirled her wand. "Crucio."

The hoarse scream that ripped from the woman's throat quickly dismissed any notion that she was dead.

"That'll be enough, Bella," Regulus said finally. "Haven't you had your fun? Anymore of that, and she'll be completely useless."

Bellatrix, her concentration broken, turned her head sharply and regarded him with deep-set hooded eyes. "Getting soft, dear cousin?"

"Hardly." He turned to leave. "I know when to put the Dark Lord above my…personal indulgences. You want to play, Bella, do it on your own time."

Her eyes flashed with bright anger. "How dare you! I am the Dark Lord's most faithful servant! Everything I do, I do to please him."

"Then you won't mind allowing me to finally question her, like the Dark Lord ordered me to," Regulus said, putting special emphasis on the last words, knowing that they would be the trigger to stop his cousin.

She folded.

"Go ahead," Bella said, lifting her chin. She waved a slender hand toward the ground. "I want to watch."

Of course you do.

"You can't," he said flatly. "The Dark Lord's orders were for me only. Leave."

"You dare order me?" she said, voicing rising with every word. "Me, who brought you into the sacred ranks in the first place? I am his most trusted confidante."

"Really?" he queried sardonically.

"The Dark Lord would never trust you over me," Bellatrix insisted passionately.

"Be that as it may," Regulus began delicately, smirking. "Leave."

"You will pay for your insolence," she hissed. "I will not forget this slight, cousin or not."

He gave her a mocking deferential bow, and watched as she furiously whirled away in a hurricane of swirling black cloak.

"She never did like to share," Regulus remarked aloud, to an audience of no one.

The woman was once again passed out, the stress of each consecutive torture session apparently being too much for her system to bear.

He stared down at her broken body, and wondered, what am I going to do? He knew, of course, what he was supposed to do: interrogate the woman and then kill her after. No body, no accusations.

Neat. Quick. Easy.

It could be the Death Eater's motto.

And as callous as it seemed, his mission for the Order did not usually involve saving any of Voldemort's victims. Spying was an already dangerous vocation, and Regulus didn't need any more potential risks. Even he could not talk his way out of a situation that involved him, and a rescued victim. From a purely tactical standpoint, he was much more valuable than any of Voldemort's victims. They lost him, they lost valuable insight into Voldemort's movements, and the Order did not have anyone with his credentials.

Regulus knew it very well, and was always reminded of it at times like these, when shoved up against a rock and a hard place. It was times like these that his conscience screamed to just get out of the spy business and move to Majorca. But the part of his brain that adhered to duty always silenced it, and he listened to that part now, promising himself that he could agonize on how he had ended up living a double life some other time.

He swallowed hard, and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Distractions were always dangerous.

Now…the question still remained: what was he going to do?

If the woman had been an Order member, he would have been able to save her, and pin the blame on someone else, like he did when he rescued Peter last December.

If wishes were fishes.

He quickly ran through a list of possible scenarios, discarding them as quickly as they came to mind. Regulus was sure that he would be able to get information out of her without having to resort to physical violence, but he was starting to think that the woman was going to die, no matter what he did.

Well, Regulus thought bitterly, his face twisted into a sardonic frown, one had to make sacrifices for the greater good.

It just so happened that it wasn't him this time.

"Enervate," he said harshly, jabbing his wand at her prone body.

Her eyelids rose slowly and her eyes widened in fear as she took in his angry profile.

"Don't kill me," she whispered.

He set his jaw, and ignored her.

"Name," Regulus snapped.

"Natalia…Castigar."

The simple act of recalling and saying her name drained her, and she closed her eyes again, falling back into unconsciousness.

"Enervate," Regulus said, putting a little more force into the spell than was strictly necessary.

Natalia didn't move at all.

Wonderful.

The only link to the prophecy, and his lunatic cousin had broken the Seer's mind beyond repair.

Just great, he grumbled to himself. Now what the hell am I supposed to do with her?

Plan A, bring her back to the Death Eaters. Explain the whole Seer-lost-her-mind situation. Voldemort attempts to draw information out by torturing her and fails. She dies.

Plan B, bring her to St. Mungo's and have them try to fix her mind. Arouse extreme suspicion on his part. Voldemort kills him after a torture session in which he reveals all of the Order's secrets.

Plan C, adhere to his orders from Voldemort. Kill her himself. Endure the suspicion when the Order asks why yet another victim has died. Tell them that he is not God.

I need a vacation.

Regulus rolled up his sleeves, exhaled sharply and looked at the woman. She was practically dead already. He was just sealing the deal.

"_Avada Kedavra_."


End file.
